


Biography

by mlea7675



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:15:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29116602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mlea7675/pseuds/mlea7675
Summary: West Wing characters' biographies as if they were Wikipedia articles. Based mostly on my own headcanon, but also pulls from events in the show.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 19





	1. The Bartlet Family

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: So, this is a project I have been working on for some time now-writing biographies of the West Wing characters as if they had Wikipedia articles. I wrote them as I came up with them, but hopefully, they should still be somewhat organized. First up-the Bartlet family. Let me know what you think!

**Josiah Edward “Jed” Bartlet** (May 19, 1942-March 20, 2019) was an American politician and Nobel Laureate who served as the 42nd President of the United States from January 1999 to January 2007. 

Early Life: 

Josiah Edward Bartlet (named for his descendant, the Declaration of Independence signer of the same name) was born on May 19, 1942, in Concord, New Hampshire, to John and Lucy Bartlet. He was the elder of two sons: a brother, Jonathan, was born in 1945. The family moved to Manchester when young Jed was ten years old. 

Education: 

Graduating from Manchester’s Central Academy (where his father was headmaster) in 1960, he pursued a degree in Theology (later American Studies) from the University of Notre Dame. He then pursued a Master’s Degree and PhD from the London School of Economics. After graduation, he and his wife Abigail moved back to New Hampshire, where he was elected to the New Hampshire State House of Representatives and became a tenured professor of Economics at Dartmouth College, receiving an honorary doctorate from the school in 1998. He also served two terms on the New Hampshire State Board of Education from 1981 to 1985. 

Nobel Prize: 

On December 10, 1985, Bartlet was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. He was awarded the honor (which he split with Japanese economist Yosh Takata) on the basis of his book  _ Theory and Design of Macroeconomics in Developing Nations.  _

Politics 

Bartlet first rose to prominence in politics when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives representing the state of New Hampshire in 1985. After three terms, he ran for and was elected the Governor of New Hampshire in 1991, and re-elected for a second term in 1995. 

Presidency

Bartlet entered the 1998 presidential race as a dark-horse candidate, announcing his candidacy from the New Hampshire State House on October 1, 1997. Originally thought to be a long-shot candidate, he astonished political pundits by claiming the Democratic nomination, and eventually beating Republican nominee James Hohner on November 3, 1998. He was inaugurated on January 20, 1999. 

During his first year in office, he deployed military action against Syria and resolved a diplomatic crisis between India and Pakistan. He also appointed two reformers to the Federal Election Commission. 

On August 7, 2000, Bartlet spoke at a town hall meeting at the Newseum in Rosslyn, Virginia. ( _ see Rosslyn shooting)  _ While the President was leaving the event, West Virginia White Pride members Adam Keenan and Nathaniel Harrison, signaled by Carl LeRoy, shot several bullets intended for the President’s body man Charles Young, who was dating Zoey Bartlet at the time. Of the bullets fired, one hit Bartlet, entering in his side and exiting out his back. He was rushed to George Washington University Hospital, where exploratory surgery was performed to determine if there were any internal injuries. He returned to the White House three days later after a successful surgery, and immediately resumed his duties. Keenan and Harrison were killed instantly by the US Secret Service, while LeRoy was arrested, tried and convicted of first-degree assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder. He is currently serving a life sentence at Sussex I State Prison in Virginia. 

On May 22, 2001, Bartlet announced to the world that he had concealed his diagnosis of multiple sclerosis to the public during the election. The House Government Oversight Committee immediately launched an investigation and subpoenaed many of his top staffers. 

In January 2002, he accepted a Congressional censure for failing to disclose to the public his diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Despite this, he was elected to a second term, defeating Florida Governor Robert Ritchie in the 2002 presidential election. 

On May 7, 2003, his daughter Zoey was kidnapped while at a club celebrating her matriculation from Georgetown College. Faced with the inevitable conflict between being a father and being President, Bartlet resigned the Presidency to Speaker of the House Glen Allen Walken, until Zoey was safely returned 50 hours later. During this time, news surfaced that a year previously, he had ordered the death of Qumari defense minister Abdul Shareef. 

On November 20, 2003, Bartlet declared a shutdown of the federal government, lowering his approval ratings. It was resolved after three days. 

During his time in office, he signed a peace accord with Palestine and Israel, and appointed conservative Justice Christopher Mulready, along with two liberal justices, Justice Roberto Mendoza and the first female Chief Justice Evelyn Baker Lang, to the Supreme Court. He was succeeded by Texas Democratic Congressman Matthew Santos in the 2006 election. 

Personal Life: 

Bartlet became a devout Roman Catholic as a child, following in the footsteps of his mother. 

Bartlet met Abigail Barrington, a pre-med student when they were both attending college in South Bend, Indiana. They married on May 14, 1967, in Boston, Massachusetts. They had three children together: Elizabeth Ann (August 20, 1968), Eleanor Emily (September 24, 1976), and Zoey Patricia (December 15, 1980). He had six grandchildren and one great-grandchild at the time of his death in 2019. 

In 1991, Bartlet began experiencing symptoms of fatigue and tingling that dissipated. Two years, the pain and a strange numbness returned. Following a routine ophthalmological exam, during which the physician noted abnormal pupil responses, Bartlet was sent for an MRI. After the scan was concluded, noting plaque on the brain and spine, Bartlet was diagnosed with a relapsing-remitting course of multiple sclerosis. Following the diagnosis, he chose to only inform those in a small inner circle about the disease, only informing his staff and the general public during his second year in office. 

After office and death 

After leaving office, Bartlet retired to his farm, helping broker peace deals in Jakarta, Indonesia, among others, and opened the Josiah E. Bartlet Presidential Library in 2009. 

In 2011, Daniel Concannon, a writer for the  _ Washington Post  _ and a close personal friend of Bartlet, wrote and published  _ What’s Next? A Memoir of Josiah Bartlet.  _

After nearly 26 years of battling multiple sclerosis, Josiah Bartlet passed away peacefully on March 20, 2019, at his farm in Manchester, New Hampshire. His state funeral, a Catholic funeral Mass held on March 23, was viewed on CNN by nearly 20 million viewers. He was buried on the grounds of his Presidential Library.

... 

**Abigail Ann “Abbey” Bartlet** (nee  **Barrington** ) (born February 13, 1942) is a physician and activist who was First Lady of the United States as the wife of President Josiah Bartlet. 

Early Life and Education 

Abigail Ann Barrington was born February 13, 1942 at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. She was the only daughter of Harold, a neurosurgeon, and Laura Barrington (nee Greenwald). 

Abigail, or “Abbey” as she was quickly nicknamed, was known to be quite an inquisitive child. She had a lifelong dream of following in her father’s footsteps to become a surgeon. 

After graduating from Littleton High School in Boston, Bartlet attended St. Mary’s College in South Bend, Indiana, where she met and fell in love with Josiah “Jed” Bartlet, a theology student at the neighboring University of Notre Dame. He eventually changed his major to American Studies, and the pair were married at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston on May 14, 1967. 

After a stint in London while Jed completed his PhD in Economics, a timespan that included the birth of their eldest daughter Elizabeth, the couple moved back to Boston, where Bartlet entered Harvard Medical School. She graduated in 1974, and completed her training to become a cardiothoracic surgeon in 1980 at Boston Mercy Hospital. She was then invited to become a physician at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. During that time, she also served as an Adjunct Professor of Thoracic Surgery at Harvard Medical School, her alma mater. 

First Lady of New Hampshire: 

Bartlet began serving as the First Lady of New Hampshire when her husband Jed was elected as Governor in 1991. During her tenure as the state’s First Lady, she visited children’s hospitals and advocated for a stronger healthcare system for New Hampshire. 

FLOTUS: 

On January 20, 1999, Bartlet became First Lady of the United States. As First Lady, she took many positions that were popular among the American people, but unpopular with the White House. She advocated for victims of forced child labor and took action to edit UN resolutions to make all forms of prostitution illegal. 

In 2002, her medical license was called into question before the American Medical Association when it was revealed she had been secretly medicating her husband with injections of a drug called Betaseron in order to keep his attacks of multiple sclerosis in check. Faced with the real possibility of losing her medical license and everything she had worked for, she voluntarily surrendered her medical license for the remainder of her husband’s time in office, but picked it back up again when she began volunteering at a free clinic in DC. 

When her daughter, Zoey, was kidnapped and then returned in 2003, she put her daughter first and canceled all her public appearances so that she could return with Zoey back to their home in Manchester where she could recover in private. 

In 2004, she lent support to Capitol Hill on the Equal Pay Amendment and the ERA. When she left office in 2007, her approval rating was at 87%. 

After the White House: 

After the end of Jed Bartlet’s Presidency, the couple retired to their farm in Manchester, New Hampshire, where Bartlet lent her name to several healthcare advocacy programs in the state of New Hampshire. She also played a large role in the child health programs planned by First Lady Helen Santos. In addition, she maintained her medical license and, as she had done at the White House, began volunteering at clinics in Manchester. 

Her husband’s death in 2019 has caused her to mostly withdraw out of the public eye, appearing sporadically at events honoring her husband.

Personal Life: 

Bartlet gave birth to three daughters: Elizabeth Ann (b. August 20, 1968), Eleanor Emily (b. September 24, 1976), and Zoey Patricia (b. December 16, 1980). 

… 

**Elizabeth Ann Bartlet** (formerly  **Bartlet** - **Westin** ) (born August 20, 1968) is the eldest daughter of former President Josiah Bartlet and First Lady Abigail Bartlet. 

Early Life and Education: 

Bartlet was born at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, London, England on August 20, 1968. At the time, her father Josiah was pursuing a Master’s Degree at the London School of Economics. After her father received his PhD in 1971, the young family moved to New Hampshire 

She became a big sister in 1976 when her sister Eleanor was born, and later her sister Zoey in 1980. She would be thrust into the local limelight when Josiah Bartlet began serving in the New Hampshire State House of Representatives and the State Board of Education. 

Bartlet graduated from Manchester Central High School in 1986, shortly after her father was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Marriage and Children: 

Entering Wellesley College, she became involved with older college student Doug Westin, and became pregnant. She and Westin were married on February 8, 1987. Their daughter, Anne Elizabeth, was born on September 1, 1987. 

First Daughter: 

At the time her father, then the Governor of New Hampshire, entered the campaign for President in 1998, she made campaign appearances with her husband and daughter on the campaign trail. During the general election campaign, Bartlet-Westin went public about her struggles to conceive a second child when she was photographed outside a New Hampshire fertility clinic. On February 7, 1999, CJ Cregg released a public statement through the White House that the Westins were expecting their second child. Their son, Augustus “Gus” Josiah, was born on July 10, 1999. 

As a wife and mother, Bartlet-Westin remained out of the public spotlight, surfacing only during times of crisis, such as her sister’s kidnapping in 2003. 

Husband’s Political Campaign and Divorce: 

In early 2006, Bartlet-Westin supported her husband as he announced his campaign for New Hampshire’s 1st District. She also made a substantial donation to the bare-bones Matthew Santos For President campaign. 

On October 5, newspaper tabloid reports surfaced about Doug Westin’s alleged affair with the family nanny. She later revealed that she had become aware of this affair well before the tabloid report was published, electing to work things out for the sake of their children. 

Despite this, two years after her father left office, Bartlet filed for divorce from Westin, citing “irreconcilable differences”. In the divorce papers, she cited Westin’s infidelity as a main factor in the split. The divorce became final on March 4, 2009. 

Life After Marriage: 

Bartlet settled into life with her two children in New Hampshire following her highly publicized divorce from Westin. While she has been approached several times about running for office herself, she has declined, saying, “My time has passed, and it is time to pass on the mantle to the next generation.”

She stepped back into the public eye briefly when she attended her father’s funeral on March 23, 2019. She became a grandmother in 2018 when her daughter Annie gave birth to a son. 

… 

**Eleanor “Ellie” Emily Bartlet Faison** (born September 24, 1976) is a physician and medical researcher for Johns Hopkins University. She is the second daughter of former US President Josiah Bartlet and his wife, First Lady Abigail Bartlet. 

Early Life and Education: 

Eleanor Emily Bartlet was born at Boston Mercy Hospital on September 24, 1976, where her mother Abigail was completing her surgical residency. She became a big sister in 1980, when her younger sister Zoey was born. From the beginning, she took an interest in following her mother’s footsteps as a physician. 

She graduated from Manchester Central High School in 1994, and from Dartmouth College in 1998. Shortly after beginning medical school at Johns Hopkins University, her father Josiah was elected President. 

First Daughter: 

Bartlet remained out of the limelight as much as possible while she completed medical school. She later took a step into the public eye to defend the career of Surgeon General Millicent Griffith, her godmother. 

On May 7, 2003, her sister Zoey was kidnapped. She attended a private Mass said for Zoey with her family. Zoey was returned safely after 50 hours. 

In September of 2004, Bartlet’s career as a medical researcher (which she began upon graduation from Johns Hopkins Medical School in 2003) came under scrutiny when Republican Congresswoman Barbara Layton began a campaign against NIH funding for sexually transmitted diseases. On September 19, she made a speech to the White House Press Corps defending her research and advocating for medical research, which was carried live on CSPAN. 

Marriage and personal life: 

In early 2006, Bartlet met research scientist Victor Faison at the lab where she worked. After eight months of dating, the couple announced their engagement on September 5, 2006. Speculation began that the First Daughter was expecting when plans were quickly thrown together for a White House state wedding just three weeks later. 

Bartlet and Faison were married on September 27, 2006, in the East Ballroom of the White House. She had six bridesmaids, and the groom had as many groomsmen. Many diplomats such as Queen Elizabeth II and Andrew, Duke of York attended the wedding. 

Just four weeks later, Faison announced that she was expecting her first child, all but confirming the shotgun wedding rumors. She attended Leo McGarry’s funeral in November of that year. 

Faison’s father left office in January of 2007, and the newlywed couple moved into a townhouse in Baltimore. On April 10, 2007, she gave birth to her first and only child, a daughter named Melody Kate, by Caesarean section at Johns Hopkins Hospital. 

In 2009, the Faisons moved to New York, where Faison continues to work as a medical researcher for Project ALS. She has used her platform as a former First Daughter to advocate for stem cell research. 

…

**Zoey Patricia Bartlet-Young** (born December 16, 1980) is a published author and American foreign policy advisor. She is the third and youngest daughter of former US President Josiah Bartlet and his wife, First Lady Abigail Bartlet. 

Early Life and Education: 

Bartlet-Young was born Zoey Patricia Bartlet on December 16, 1980 at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, New Hampshire. She was born to Josiah and Abigail Bartlet, their third and last child. 

Bartlet lived a life of freedom on her family’s farm for much of her early childhood. When she was 4 years old, her father was elected to the US House of Representatives. As the youngest child still living at home at the time her father was elected Governor, she was the darling of the local press. 

She graduated from Manchester Central High School in the spring of 1998, just as her father was beginning his campaign for the Presidency. Deferring her acceptance to Georgetown University for one year, she became the young, public face of the campaign. 

First Daughter: 

In the spring of 2000, she entered Georgetown, and as she had on the campaign trail, became the face of the First Family. She lived on campus all four years, however, signifying her need for a life outside of being the First Daughter. 

The next spring, she began dating her father’s personal aide, 21 year old Charles Young. She began to receive hate mail and death threats as a result of their relationship. On August 8, 2000, she was attending a town hall event with her father, Young, and the Senior Staff in Rosslyn, Virginia when her father was shot. Bartlet-Young was safely evacuated, but her father was shot in the side. Though he made a full recovery, it was soon discovered that Young was the target of the shooters, and not Bartlet himself. 

After the excitement and terror from the Rosslyn shooting had died down, Bartlet-Young continued to attend college, and graduated summa cum laude from Georgetown on May 7, 2003. Her father was the commencement speaker. 

Kidnapping: 

On the evening of May 7, 2003, shortly after 11:30 p.m., Bartlet-Young was at a local dance club celebrating her matriculation from Georgetown with friends when she suddenly vanished. She had reported becoming lightheaded and nauseated shortly before her disappearance. Secret Service agents discovered her abandoned panic button and the body of Secret Service agent Molly O’Connor in the alleyway adjoining the nightclub. Less than a half hour after she disappeared, early news reports began to surface that she had been kidnapped. 

Early press briefings confirmed the name of the dead agent, and that the young friend she had been with was high on  Gamma Hydroxybutyrate (GHB). 

Six hours after the kidnapping, President Bartlet, sensing his closeness to the situation, resigned the Presidency to Republican Speaker of the House Glen Allen Walken under the 25th Amendment. Walken then addressed the nation as the new Acting President, followed immediately afterward by an FBI briefing from Agent Michael Casper. She was then assigned a case file- 7A WF 83429. 

Several hours later, Walken again addressed the nation, sharing that Qumari terrorists were likely the main suspects of the kidnapping. That evening, the Bartlet family-now including their two eldest daughters-attended a private Mass for Bartlet-Young. 

CJ Cregg then announced an attack ordered by Walken on Qumari defense training camps, in retaliation for the kidnapping. At 3:30 p.m. on May 9, a ransom video featuring Bartlet-Young was released with the terrorists’ demands. 

Eleven hours after the video, Bartlet-Young was discovered by the FBI in an abandoned cabin, and she was returned safely to her family with only minor injuries. 

After the Kidnapping and Presidency: 

Following her recovery from the kidnapping and attempt on her life, Bartlet-Young returned to the family farm in Manchester to focus on her recovery, returning to DC some time later. She celebrated her 25th birthday in the White House in 2005, where Penn and Teller caused controversy by appearing to burn an American flag. 

Her father left office in 2007, and Bartlet-Young remained in DC, moving in with Charles Young and attending graduate school. She graduated with a Master’s degree in international relations in 2009. She worked for the State Department from 2010 to 2017, rising in the ranks to become Under Secretary for Political Affairs. 

Bartlet-Young moved to New Hampshire in 2018 following her father’s weakening health, and was very involved in causes close to her heart, including immigration reform. She served on the World Affairs Council until December of 2018, when President Samuel Seaborn recruited her to become the new Secretary of State. 

Secretary of State: 

Bartlet-Young was confirmed as the Secretary of State on March 1, 2019. 

As the first former Presidential child to serve in the US Cabinet, she took a surprising change of tradition by setting up a second office in New Hampshire where she could maintain her residency. 

As Secretary of State, she has accompanied the Vice-President on many diplomatic trips, and has been instrumental in withdrawing troops from the West Bank. 

Personal Life: 

Bartlet-Young is fluent in three languages-English, Italian, and French. 

In 2014, she published a book on her early life and experience attending college while in the White House, including her kidnapping, titled  _ The Third First Daughter: My Life in the White House.  _

Bartlet-Young announced her engagement to her father’s former personal aide, Charles Young, on January 21, 2009. She and Young had reconnected romantically several years earlier, after ending their relationship following the Rosslyn shooting. 

They were married at the Bartlet family farm in Manchester, New Hampshire on September 6, 2009. In August 2010, Bartlet-Young announced that she was expecting her first child with Young, a daughter. Michelle Abigail Young was born on December 2, 2010. Their second daughter, Deana Elizabeth, was born on July 19, 2013. Their third child, Leah Charlotte, was born on March 30, 2016. Her decision to have completely natural births with all three of her children was cause for speculation; in September 2016, she appeared on  _ The Talk _ to discuss her experiences having births in a birthing center and at home. 

Bartlet-Young has experienced many notes of criticism upon her interracial marriage to Young, including death threats. President Matthew Santos signed an order extending her Secret Service protection. In November of 2009, the couple gave an interview to  _ People  _ to tell their story, and hopefully poke a hole in the criticism. 


	2. The West Wing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All the Bartlet staffers we've come to love.

**Leo Thomas McGarry** (September 13, 1948-November 7, 2006) was an American politician and attorney who served as the 22nd Secretary of Labor in the Taggart administration from 1991 to 1995 and served as the 20th White House Chief of Staff in the Bartlet Administration from 1999 to 2005. He was tapped to become the Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee in the 2006 Presidential election but unfortunately passed away from a massive heart attack before the Inauguration. 

Early Life and Education

Leo McGarry was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 13, 1948, the first child and only son of Joseph (Joe) and Mildred (Millie) McGarry (nee O’Neal). He had two younger sisters, Josephine McGarry (now the former Atlanta Superintendent of Schools) and Elizabeth. 

On June 3, 1958, Joe McGarry committed suicide after an argument with his wife. McGarry felt the loss of his father deeply, and his relationship with his mother became strained for the rest of her life. 

McGarry graduated from Sullivan High School in Chicago in 1966. He earned a degree in political science from the University of Michigan in 1973 and earned his JD in 1977. 

Military 

McGarry enlisted in the United States Air Force in the summer of 1966. After attending Officer’s Candidate School (OCS), he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force. He eventually ascended to the rank of Colonel. Assigned to the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, he flew special missions in an F-105 Thunderchief for Operation Rolling Thunder beginning in 1966. In 1968, he served a second tour of deployment and was shot down and wounded. He was discharged from the Air Force in 1969. 

Early Career

During law school, he interned for Connecticut firm Matthews, Lyman, and Currier, and was offered a job for Cultico after graduation from the University of Michigan Law School. After three years, he was asked to serve on the Board of Directors for Wright-Miller Aeronautics. 

White House 

In 1991, following moderate Republican Owen Taggart’s Inauguration, he appointed McGarry to serve as the 22nd Secretary of Labor. 

In 1997, McGarry recruited his close friend, Josiah Bartlet, to run for President of the United States. On November 3, 1998, Bartlet was elected, and he appointed McGarry to serve as his Chief of Staff. He served in this capacity until 2005 when a massive heart attack forced him to step down. 

After six months of recovery, he returned to the White House in a limited role as Special Counselor to the President and became an elder statesman within the Democratic Party. 

Vice-Presidential Run 

After the deadlocked 2006 Democratic National Convention, on July 24, 2006, McGarry was selected as Matthew Santos’ running mate in the 2006 general election. Although at first unimpressive as a candidate, he quickly became a strong factor in Santos' campaign success. 

On October 1, 2006, McGarry easily defeated his opponent, West Virginia Governor Ray Sullivan, in the first and only Vice-Presidential debate. 

Personal Life and Health

McGarry married Jenny Rogers on New Years’ Eve 1968. They were married for 31 years before divorcing in 2000 and had one daughter, Mallory (b. 1970). 

He took a brief sabbatical from his Secretary of Labor position in 1993 when he spent 30 days in rehab for a Valium and alcohol addiction. 

On June 5, 2005, McGarry was admitted to Bethesda Naval Hospital after collapsing at Camp David from a near-fatal heart attack. He underwent seven hours of open-heart surgery and spent the next six months slowly recovering.

Death 

McGarry died of a second massive heart attack at Houston Methodist Hospital, shortly after 9:00 pm EST (8 pm CST) on November 7, 2006. He had been in Houston to await Election Day returns with the rest of the Santos-McGarry campaign staffers. He passed away 90 minutes before the polls were set to close on the West Coast, causing some concern as to how the election would be handled. 

Thirty minutes after McGarry’s death was confirmed by NBC News, Matthew Santos read a brief statement from his campaign hotel in Houston, saying in part, “America has lost a giant tonight, and I have lost a friend...If I win this election, the country will be worse off because Leo McGarry will not be there to help me run it.” Six hours after McGarry’s death, he was posthumously named the Vice President-Elect of the United States. 

After a private funeral service, he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on November 10, 2006. 

… 

**Joshua Lyman** (born October 10, 1961) is an American political aide who served as the 22nd White House Chief of Staff in the Santos administration from 2008 to 2015, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff in the Bartlet administration from 1999 to 2005. He is currently serving as the Chair for the Democratic National Committee. 

Early Life and Education 

Joshua Lyman was born on October 10, 1961, at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut to Noah and Rachel (nee Horowitz) Lyman. His father passed away in 1998, while Lyman was working on the first Bartlet campaign. He was raised in nearby Westport. 

Lyman had an elder sister, Joan (1954-1968), who tragically passed away in a house fire when he was 7. Following the fire, his family moved to a bigger house in Westport, and he finished school, though he would continue to be wracked with survivor’s guilt. 

Lyman was a graduate of Westmister School, Class of 1979. He graduated from Harvard College (where he was on the  _ Crimson _ )  _ cum laude  _ in 1983, and went on to attend Yale Law School. He is a Fulbright Scholar. 

Career 

Beginning in 1986, after graduation from Yale, he held a series of respected positions in Washington DC. He served as the Chief of Staff to Congressman Earl Brennan until 1991, floor manager for the Minority Whip from 1991 to 1993, Democratic House Legislative Director from 1993 to 1994, and Floor Director for the Senate from 1994 to 1996. 

Lyman became a staffer for Texas Senator John Hoynes in 1996. Hoynes was considered to be the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination at that time. 

In the fall of 1997, Lyman left the Hoynes campaign at the urging of political mentor Leo McGarry to serve as the Senior Political Director for the fledgling Bartlet For America campaign. Thanks in large part to McGarry and Lyman’s expertise, but also due to the genuineness of their candidate, Bartlet was elected President. 

In gratitude for his work on the Bartlet campaign, Bartlet appointed him Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Planning. During his time in office, from 1999 to 2005, Lyman was a key player in the Bartlet Administration’s key initiatives and was instrumental in the nomination of three Supreme Court justices nominated during Bartlet’s time in office: Chief Justice Evelyn Baker Lang, Justice Roberto Mendoza, and Justice Christopher Mulready. 

In late 2005, Lyman again took a leap of faith and left the White House to run the Presidential campaign of Congressman Matthew Santos. Serving as campaign manager for the Santos/McGarry for a Brighter America campaign, he managed to get Santos elected to the Presidency on November 7, 2006. 

Lyman was appointed Santos’ Chief of Staff and served in that position for Santos’ entire two-term Presidency. He oversaw several important education and healthcare initiatives. 

After Santos left office in 2015, Lyman was recruited to the Democratic National Committee. He served as Vice-Chair for four years before being promoted to his current position of Chair. 

Health 

On August 7, 2000, while attending a town hall meeting with President Bartlet, Lyman was shot in the chest and critically wounded. The bullet, fired by either Adam Keenan or Nathaniel Harrison, collapsed his lung and damaged his pulmonary artery. It was several minutes before Bartlet staffers discovered him and notified paramedics.

He was rushed to George Washington University Hospital in critical condition. During a 14-hour procedure, doctors repaired his lacerated pulmonary artery. A vigil was held outside the hospital while the procedure was completed. He survived the surgery and was released from GW on August 29, after 21 days in the Intensive Care Unit. After ten weeks of recovery at home, he returned to his job at the White House in mid-November. 

In 2014, during an interview with his wife for  _ 20/20 _ , Lyman revealed that he had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder shortly before Christmas of 2000 in relation to the shooting. 

Personal Life 

On June 16, 2007, Lyman married FLOTUS Chief of Staff Donnatella Moss in a private ceremony held inside the White House. Lyman and Moss had worked together and been acquainted for nine years before becoming engaged in February. 

In January of 2008, local news outlets began to speculate that Lyman and his wife were expecting their first child. On July 5, 2008, the couple released a joint press statement through the  _ Washington Post  _ announcing the birth of their twin daughters, Abigail and Annabeth. A son, Matthew, was born in 2010. Their youngest child, Leo, was born in 2014 and was prenatally diagnosed with Down Syndrome. The Lymans appeared on  _ The Today Show  _ and  _ 20/20  _ when the diagnosis became public, raising awareness of Down Syndrome. 

Though a non-practicing Jew for most of his adult life, Lyman has said publicly that he has further embraced his faith to pass it on to his children. 

… 

**Samuel Norman “Sam” Seaborn** (born March 17, 1964) is the 45th President of the United States. Before his election, he served as a Congressman of the Maryland 8th district, White House Deputy Chief of Staff in the Santos administration, and Deputy Communications Director and Speechwriter in the Bartlet Administration. In between these appointments, he was an attorney based mainly in New York and California. 

Early Life and Education 

Samuel Norman Seaborn was born on March 17, 1964, in Laguna Beach, California to Norman Seaborn (an attorney) and his wife Emily (an educator). An only child, Seaborn was raised in a home of books, where education was the primary target. From an early age, he expressed a gift for both the written and spoken word. 

His parents would end their oftentimes acrimonious marriage in 2001 when Norman was found to be having a longtime affair with another woman. Seaborn, when questioned about this later in interviews, called it an “egregious betrayal” of everything he had known in his childhood. Though he would reconcile with his father before his death, the frosty relationship between the pair never thawed completely. 

Seaborn graduated from Laguna Beach High School in 1982, where he excelled on the debate team and was accepted to Princeton University. He graduated from Princeton in 1986 with a degree in English and went on to graduate from Duke Law School in 1989. During his tenure there, he was an editor of the Duke Law Review. 

Career

Seaborn began his career as a practicing attorney at the Dewey Ballantine law firm in New York City. After three years, he joined Gage Whitney Pace and worked there for seven years. Additionally, he served as a Congressional aide (where he met future Deputy Chief of Staff Joshua Lyman), a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) staffer, and a ghostwriter. 

In the fall of 1997, Seaborn left Gage Whitney to join Lyman at the fledgling Bartlet For America campaign. It was here that he began to exercise his gift for speechwriting. After Bartlet’s election, he was appointed to the position of Deputy White House Communications Director. 

As a White House staffer, Seaborn was recognized as an up-and-coming bright mind in the Democratic Party, being the author behind many of Bartlet’s greatest speeches. 

2002 Congressional Campaign

In November of 2002, Horton Wilde, the Democratic Congressional candidate for the California 46th District, passed away. When he won the election, an unexpected outcome, Seaborn offered to run in his place in a special election to be held in early 2003. He announced he was seeking the seat on November 10, 2002. President Bartlet endorsed him for the seat, though it was clear he would lose. On February 15, 2003, Republican Chuck Webb beat Seaborn in the special election by a staggering 67% of the vote to Seaborn’s 32%. 

Following the loss, Seaborn chose not to return to DC and instead went back to practicing law. Over the next three years, he practiced at Bennett, Callahan, and Forest in Los Angeles, and Granger, Davidson, and Crouch in Palo Alto. 

Santos Administration

In December of 2006, Seaborn moved back to DC to serve as Matthew Santos’ Deputy Chief of Staff, a position he held until 2014. During his time at the White House, he oversaw many initiatives relating to education, healthcare, and immigration law (an area of great interest to him given his law background). 

Congress 

On May 8, 2014, Seaborn announced he would be resigning from the White House to run for an open seat in the House of Representatives, representing Maryland’s 8th district. On November 4, 2014, he was elected to the seat by a landslide. 

Almost immediately, Seaborn was appointed to serve on the Judiciary Committee, and Government Oversight and Reform. He became a junior ranking member on both committees. 

Presidential Election 

On October 28, 2017, from the Maryland State House, Seaborn announced that with the support of the DCCC and DNC, he would seek the Democratic nomination for the Presidency. During the primaries, he faced intense competition from Ricky Rafferty, among other Democratic hopefuls. 

On July 28, 2018, Seaborn was officially nominated as the Democratic candidate for President, facing off against incumbent President Ray Sullivan. 

During the general election campaign, Seaborn faced many challenges, including Hurricane Rafael and an October surprise involving his wife Ainsley. 

On November 6, 2018, Seaborn was officially elected the 45th President of the United States with 320 electoral votes. 

He spent much of the transition period building his staff and learning as much as he could about what he was about to inherit. He appointed Donnatella Lyman, former Chief of Staff to First Lady Helen Santos and his close friend and colleague of nearly 20 years, as his Chief of Staff. 

Presidency 

On January 20, 2019, Seaborn was sworn in in a private ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, as January 20 fell on a Sunday. He was sworn in again publicly the next day. 

During his first 100 days, he faced a heartbreaking loss when former President Josiah Bartlet passed away. One of his first official Presidential trips was to attend his funeral. 

He has been instrumental in passing the Clean Air Act and withdrawing peacekeeping troops from the West Bank. 

Personal Life

Seaborn met his wife, Republican attorney Ainsley Hayes (b. 1968), on local cable TV show  _ Capitol Beat,  _ and later when she became an Associate White House Counsel in the White House. After several years, they reconnected when both were working in California. Seaborn proposed in July of 2006, and they were married in Hayes’ hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina on October 20, 2007. 

Since Seaborn took office, as part of her women’s healthcare initiative, Ainsley Hayes-Seaborn has been open about the couple’s early struggles with infertility. On February 17, 2010, after two years of trying, they welcomed their first son, Connor Joshua. A daughter, Ava Josephine, was born on September 5, 2014. They were 8 and 4, respectively, when their father took office. 

… 

**Tobias Zachary “Toby” Ziegler** (born December 23, 1954) is a professor who served as the White House Communications Director from 1999 to 2006. He was abruptly removed from his position when he confessed to leaking classified information to the  _ New York Times.  _ Since then, Ziegler has maintained a low profile and is a tenured professor of political science at Columbia University. 

Early Life and Education

Ziegler was born in Brooklyn, New York on December 23, 1954, to Julie and Rebecca Ziegler. He was the third of four children, with two older sisters and a younger brother. At a young age, his father Julie was sent to prison for crimes relating to his work for the mobster group Murder Inc. 

He is Jewish and has maintained his faith throughout his adulthood. Shortly before his Bar Mitzvah, Julie abandoned the family. 

In 1972, Ziegler graduated from James Madison High School. He then graduated from the City University of New York with a degree in Public Policy. 

Early Career

Ziegler spent much of his career becoming a professional political operative. He worked on the campaigns of Ron Goldberg for mayor of the Bronx, two Congressional campaigns, and several Senatorial and gubernatorial campaigns, none of which his candidate won. 

In 1997, he was recruited to work for the Bartlet For America presidential campaign. When Bartlet won in 1998, he was appointed to be the White House Communications Director. 

White House

As the White House Communications Director, he was the primary speechwriter for Jed Bartlet and worked hard at crafting the “message”. He also served as a domestic policy advisor and was heavily involved in the 2002 re-election campaign. 

Space Shuttle Scandal 

In July of 2006, the existence of a classified military space shuttle became public knowledge when it was suggested to Greg Brock of the  _ New York Times  _ that this shuttle might be saved to rescue three astronauts stranded on the International Space Station. 

On August 29, 2006, President Josiah Bartlet addressed the nation, revealing that Ziegler was responsible for the “egregious national security leak”. Ziegler was immediately fired and removed from the White House. 

Due to his continued insistence that he acted alone, he became the target of federal prosecution. Even though he faced two to six years in federal prison for leaking classified information, he was pardoned by President Bartlet during his final hours in office on January 20, 2007. 

After the White House: 

Following his federal pardon, he applied for a teaching position at Columbia University, where he remains today. 

Personal Life 

Ziegler met Andrea Wyatt in 1994 at the Democratic National Convention, when he was shilling for votes. The two were married on April 11, 1995, at the Office of the City Clerk in New York City. In February of 1999, just one month into Wyatt’s first term as a freshman Congresswoman, they legally separated. Their divorce was finalized in June. 

In August of 2002, Wyatt became pregnant with Ziegler’s twins. She gave birth on May 7, 2003, to Huckleberry and Molly Ziegler. Ziegler continues to be an active father. 

… 

**Claudia Jean “CJ” Cregg** (born November 19, 1964) is a philanthropist who previously served as the White House Chief of Staff to President Josiah Bartlet, and before that the White House Press Secretary. She currently is CEO of the Franklin Hollis Foundation in Los Angeles, California. 

Early Life and Education 

Claudia Jean Cregg was born on November 19, 1964, in Dayton, Ohio to Talmidge and Jean Cregg. Her mother Jean passed away in 1974 when Cregg was ten years old, and her father remarried twice, passing away due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease in 2009. She has two older brothers. 

Cregg graduated from West Dayton High School in 1982 as a National Merit Scholar. She attended Williams College in Massachusetts on an academic scholarship, graduating in 1986 with a degree in communications. She then obtained a Master’s degree in political science from the University of California at Berkeley. 

Career

Following her graduation from her Master’s program in 1989, she began working for EMILY’s List. She left that job in 1994 to take a more lucrative job as a TV/film PR agent at Triton Day Publicity Agency. 

In October of 1997, she was let go from her job at Triton Day and began working for the fledgling Bartlet For America campaign as the campaign’s press secretary. 

White House

Upon President Josiah Bartlet’s election, she was appointed the White House Press Secretary. She often evoked emotion from the other staffers, many of whom accused her of getting too emotionally involved with the press. She often expressed contrary points of view in the briefing room. 

Cregg was present at the Rosslyn shooting in 2000; initial briefings showed her to be obviously shaken, with a laceration to her forehead. Later that night, she made a point of discussing during a briefing how many other people had been killed or violated by gunpoint that night. 

In June 2005, following Leo McGarry’s retirement from his position as Chief of Staff, Cregg was promoted to his old job, becoming the first female Chief of Staff. She proved to be a very capable Chief of Staff, dealing with, among other things, the Russia-China crisis in Kazakhstan that Matthew Santos would later inherit. 

Hollis Foundation 

Immediately following the end of the Bartlet Administration on January 20, 2007, Cregg accepted a position on the board of the Franklin Hollis Foundation in Los Angeles. She quickly became a champion of better infrastructure in Africa and other third-world countries, going to bat with the Santos Administration several times. Hollis retired in 2013, naming Cregg the CEO of the Foundation. 

Personal Life 

On August 18, 2007, Cregg married  _ Washington Post  _ reporter Daniel “Danny” Concannon in a private ceremony on Santa Monica Beach. The pair had met while Concannon was working for the White House Press Corps, pursuing a long-term relationship only when neither one was working for the White House. In the summer of 2008, they adopted an infant daughter, Tiana, from Uganda. 

In 2015, Cregg wrote a memoir titled  _ From Press Secretary to Chief of Staff: My Years in The White House.  _

… 

**Charles Isaac Young** (born June 8, 1978) is an attorney who is currently working for Thompson Law Offices in Manchester, NH, and is the CEO and managing director of the Josiah E. Bartlet Presidential Library. A former legal aid for Chief Justice Evelyn Baker Lang, Young first came into prominence in the late 1990s when, as the new body man for President Josiah Bartlet, he incited death threats for pursuing a relationship with Zoey Bartlet. He and Bartlet have since married, and they have three children. 

Early Life: 

Young was born on June 8, 1978, at Johns Hopkins Hospital. His mother Michelle was a recent graduate of the DC Police Academy who ascended to the rank of Sergeant by the time Young was in high school. A sister, Deana, followed in 1982. His father flitted in and out of his life throughout his early years but had vanished completely by the time he was in grade school. 

Young was 20 years old and his sister was 16 when, on May 15, 1999, his mother was chasing a suspect when she was gunned down in the middle of a busy DC boulevard. She was killed instantly. 

Taking responsibility for his teenage sister, he looked for a job around DC, eventually applying for a messenger position inside the White House. He was instead referred to Josh Lyman, who offered him a job as the President’s personal aide. 

The White House and Education: 

As the President’s body man, he was the closest man to the President, who looked on him as a son. He met Zoey Bartlet, the President’s youngest daughter, in September of 1999. The pair dated for several months. Many were not happy with the union, however, sending death threats to Young and Bartlet. 

It all came to a head on August 8, 2000, when West Virginia White Pride members attempted to assassinate Young-but shot the President instead. Wracked with guilt, Young ended his relationship with Bartlet shortly thereafter. 

In 2001, he entered Georgetown University, attending night classes while working as the President’s aide and raising his younger sister. He served in this role until June of 2005, after graduating from Georgetown with a degree in Government. 

Following his time serving the President, Young accepted a job as a special assistant to the new White House Chief of Staff, CJ Cregg. He continued in this position for the remainder of the Bartlet Administration. 

Young began law school in the spring of 2007, graduating in December of 2010. He passed the Maryland State Bar in May of 2011. 

Career: 

Following graduation, he became a legal aid for Chief Justice Evelyn Baker Lang until 2015. He soon found a job as legal counsel for the House Minority Leader’s Office. 

His father-in-law’s weakening health led him to move his family north to New Hampshire. While accepting a job as the CEO of the Josiah E. Bartlet Presidential Library, he also became an attorney for the Thompson Law Offices, where he remains today. 

Personal Life: 

Young and Bartlet reconnected during her father’s second term. They became engaged in January 2009 and were married at the Bartlet family farm on September 6 of that year. He has experienced many notes of criticism upon his interracial marriage to Bartlet-Young, including death threats. In November of 2009, the couple gave an interview to  _ People  _ to tell their story, and hopefully poke a hole in the criticism. 

The couple has three children: Michelle Abigail (born December 2, 2010), Deana Elizabeth (born July 19, 2013), and Leah Charlotte (born March 30, 2016). 


	3. The East Wing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two First Ladies-and the women who shaped them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These articles are based more in the post-series world, in the as-yet-unseen Santos Administration, with one other important character.

**Chapter 3: The East Wing**

**Helen Theresa Santos** (née  **Miller** ) (born June 1, 1969) is an American educator who served as First Lady of the United States from 2007 to 2015, as the wife of President Matthew Santos. 

Early life, education, and marriage: 

Helen Theresa Miller was born at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona on June 1, 1969. She was born to James Miller (1944-2015), a science teacher for the Phoenix Union School District, and his wife Katherine (1945-). A younger sister, Rebecca, was born in 1972. The Millers were devout Catholics and raised their children in the faith. 

Throughout her childhood, the value of hard work and a good education was impressed upon her by her parents. In 1982, her family moved to Houston when her father received a new teaching opportunity. She excelled at school, graduating from Carnegie Vanguard High School in 1987. 

Though she also received offers from Stanford and UCLA, Miller chose to attend the University of Houston due to its proximity to home. She grew close to the college’s Catholic ministry, volunteering on weekends at the local homeless shelter and local elementary schools. She graduated in 1991 with a degree in elementary education. 

She was attending a church picnic with her family on Easter Sunday 1990 when a friend from school introduced her to her older brother, Matthew Santos. Though he was eight years her senior, the pair soon hit it off, corresponding when Santos was deployed to the Gulf War. Within 48 hours of his return in May of 1991, he asked her to marry him. 

The couple was married on August 3, 1991, at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Houston. For the first two years of their marriage, they lived in Quantico, Virginia, while Santos served as an aviator at the Marine Corps Air Facility Quantico. Helen put her elementary education degree to use, substitute-teaching at various area schools. Given their proximity to Marine Corps Base Quantico, she witnessed firsthand the struggles that children and families of deployed service members faced. 

In 1993, Santos left the Marines, and the couple moved back to their hometown of Houston. It was at this time that Santos sensed a calling to run for the Houston City Council. Helen has not been shy in recent years about admitting that she was not fully supportive of her husband’s political bid at first but fully believed in her husband. Matthew was elected to the City Council in 1994, and for the next several years, climbed higher into politics. It was during his tenure on the City Council that the couple’s first son, Peter Matthew, was born on May 19, 1995. He was elected the mayor of Houston in 1996. 

After two terms as Mayor, Matthew sought a seat in the House of Representatives in 2000. At that time, Helen was pregnant with their second child and made sparing appearances throughout the state with her husband. Three months before Election Day, she gave birth to their daughter, Miranda Rose (b. 8/12/2000), two and a half months premature. He served three terms as Congressman for Texas’ 18th District. 

Presidential Campaigns: 

In late 2005, Matthew approached his wife about running for President. After initial misgivings, she agreed and supported her husband as he announced his run for the Presidency. She put her children first, but made several appearances with him during the primary campaign and at the Democratic National Convention. 

The Santos family made several appearances on the campaign trail in the run-up to the election. On November 7, 2006, with Helen by his side, Matthew Santos was elected President. 

In 2010, she was far more active on the campaign trail, traveling with her husband and bringing attention to her own successes in connection to her husband. Her image had greatly improved, and voters were far more likely to vote to keep both of them in office. Matthew was re-elected on November 2, 2010. 

First Lady of the United States: 

Upon entering the White House in January 2007, with the help of her staff (including Chief of Staff Donnatella Moss Lyman and Press Secretary Annabeth Schott), Helen Santos set to work developing her image as First Lady. 

She supported her husband’s efforts to revamp education reform, making appearances at local schools, and many schools around the country, to promote literacy. Based on her early days as a substitute teacher, she became a great contributor to “Read Across America Day”, taping an ad for childhood literacy that was seen nationwide. 

Her first major campaign was her “Military Families: Connecting With Each Other” program. Remembering the lack of support provided to children she taught at Marine Corps Base Quantico, she sought to provide support to children whose parents were deployed by inviting military families to events at the White House, and by visiting military bases to learn more about the sacrifices made by these spouses. She also created virtual spaces for children to talk about their feelings and fears regarding their deployed parents. 

Her “Healthy Eating, Healthy Living” campaign focused on providing adequate nutrition for children and providing low-income families with information on healthy eating. Another initiative of the campaign focused on encouraging children to learn culinary skills and was supported by former First Lady Abigail Bartlet. She also advocated for physical education programs, making fitness testing available to all schools nationwide. 

“Girls In STEM” focused on getting more girls involved in learning computer science and other STEM-related skills. She set a goal to get computers in every school within the 50 states. Her husband supported that effort through his education reform initiative. 

Additionally, she supported her husband’s effort to get affordable healthcare available to all, visiting various hospitals and children’s hospitals throughout the DC area. She also brought awareness to childhood cancer, particularly taking an interest in the work of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. 

Throughout her eight years as First Lady, she spoke at many commencements, including Wellesley, UPenn, Arizona State University, and her alma mater of the University of Houston. 

By the time she left office in 2015, Helen Santos had cemented her spot as one of the most popular First Ladies of all time. 

After the White House: 

After leaving office, Matthew and Helen Santos moved back to Houston. Though they briefly considered staying in DC so that Miranda could finish high school with her friends, and be close to Peter, who was attending college at Georgetown, they ultimately decided to relocate, citing both returning to their Houston family, as well as an opportunity to be more influential in local politics. 

Today, Helen Santos continues to be an influential member of society, touring the country and making speaking engagements at various women’s conferences. She also speaks at high schools, hoping to make a difference in the high school dropout rate among Latino students. 

Continuing to support healthcare efforts, she has opened seven free clinics in and around the city of Houston, emphasizing that no one should be turned away for not being able to pay for their treatment. 

… 

**Donnatella “Donna” Moss Lyman** (born November 12, 1974) is an American politician and former political aide. She currently serves in the Maryland House of Delegates on the Appropriations Committee, representing the 14th District that includes her hometown of Silver Spring. She previously served as White House Chief of Staff to President Samuel Seaborn and Chief of Staff to First Lady Helen Santos. 

Early Life and Education: 

Donnatella Moss was born on November 12, 1974, to an Irish father, Daniel Moss, and an Italian mother, Roberta Moss (nee Orlando) at Lakewood Health Center in Baudette, Minnesota (though the family lived in Warroad at the time). 

When she was five, the family moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where she attended schools in the Madison Metropolitan School District. She graduated from Madison West High School with honors in 1992. 

After her sophomore year at UW Madison, she unexpectedly dropped out. She later revealed in an interview with the  _ Washington Post _ that she had gotten involved with an older man who emotionally manipulated her into dropping out of college to pay for his medical schooling. 

In 2011, Lyman went back to college and two years later, graduated  _ magna cum laude  _ with a degree in Government from Georgetown University. This was followed by a Master’s Degree in Public Policy in 2017. 

Career: 

After getting the courage to leave her abusive relationship, Lyman joined the Bartlet For America campaign, becoming the Senior Assistant to Senior Political Director Joshua Lyman. When they went to the White House, she became his assistant when he was promoted to White House Deputy Chief of Staff. 

While working at the White House, she assisted in a variety of tasks, including representing the White House at various meetings. 

Gaza Attack: 

Lyman was representing the White House on a congressional delegation to the Gaza Strip on May 27, 2005, when the SUV she was riding in hit a roadside bomb. All of the others in the car with her, including former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Percy Fitzwallace, Congressman Daniel DeSantos, and Congressman Tom Korb, were killed; she was the only survivor. She was flown to Landstuhl Army Medical Center in Germany and treated for injuries including a collapsed lung and broken leg. One week later, with her injuries stabilized, she was flown back to DC and released from the hospital. 

Campaign Experience: 

Several months after she returned to the United States following the explosion, Lyman decided to leave the White House and became a senior aide to Vice-President Bob Russell’s campaign manager Will Bailey during Russell’s 2006 primary campaign. She was promoted after Super Tuesday to be the campaign’s spokesperson. 

After Matthew Santos received the Democratic nomination for President, she was hired to be the campaign spokesperson for the Santos/McGarry for A Brighter America Campaign. After President Santos was elected, she was appointed to be Chief of Staff to First Lady Helen Santos. 

Chief of Staff to the First Lady: 

While working as Chief of Staff to First Lady Helen Santos, she assisted the First Lady in her healthcare and education initiatives, including her “Girls in STEM” campaign, the “Healthy Living” campaign, and her “Military Families” program. She served in the East Wing until the Santoses left office in 2015. 

Seaborn For America and Seaborn Presidency: 

Lyman was appointed to the Seaborn For America campaign to serve as their Communications Director in 2017. After Seaborn was elected in 2018, he appointed Lyman, his close friend since the Bartlet Administration, to serve as his Chief of Staff. 

House of Delegates:

After one year in the job, Lyman resigned to run for the Maryland House of Delegates, announcing her run from a local Montgomery County high school on January 13, 2020. On November 3, 2020, she was elected to the House of Delegates to represent the 14th district. 

Personal Life: 

Lyman married her husband, former White House Chief of Staff Joshua Lyman, on June 16, 2007, in the White House. She had worked for him during the Bartlet Administration, and she maintains that they did not become romantically involved until after both were working for the Santos campaign. 

In January of 2008, local news outlets began to speculate that Lyman was expecting her first child. On July 5, 2008, the couple released a joint press statement through the  _ Washington Post  _ announcing the birth of their twin daughters, Abigail and Annabeth. A son, Matthew, was born in 2010. Their youngest child, Leo, was born in 2014 and was prenatally diagnosed with Down Syndrome. The Lymans appeared on  _ The Today Show  _ and  _ 20/20  _ when the diagnosis became public, raising awareness of Down Syndrome. 

… 

**Annabeth Tyler Schott** (born July 24, 1968) is a political consultant who serves as Chief of Staff to Delegate Donnatella Lyman in the Maryland House of Delegates. She previously served as public relations consultant for  _ Today,  _ and before that was the Press Secretary to First Lady Helen Santos. 

Early Life and Education: 

Annabeth Tyler Schott was born in Atlanta, Georgia on July 24, 1968, to Calvin and Margaret Schott. When she was five, her family moved to Barwood, a suburb of Washington DC. Her family was members of the Democratic Party. As a high school student, she wrote for the school newspaper and was a member of the Young Democrats. 

Schott graduated from Barwood High School in 1985 and attended the University of Maryland to obtain a Bachelor’s degree in Art History. She then attended Georgetown University and obtained an Associate’s degree in Political Science. She graduated from Georgetown in 1991. 

Career: 

Schott served in a series of administrative positions after moving to Washington DC in 1989. During her years at Georgetown and early years postgraduate school, she served as Executive Secretary to Senator Sam Whiteside, Assistant Secretary of State Cathy Bond, Mark Worischer, and Senate Majority Leader Blanche Sindelar. Following this appointment in 2000, she served for three years as the Secretary to the President of Cultural Affairs at the University of Maryland. 

_ The Taylor Reid Show:  _

In 2002, she was noticed by the MSNBC news director, who hired her to develop a show for barman and aspiring political correspondent Taylor Reid.  _ The Taylor Reid Show  _ went on the air January 4, 2004, and Reid’s newly reformed image quickly allowed him to become the Bartlet Administration’s most outspoken critic. His memorable “Chicken of the Week” segment put White House Chief of Staff CJ Cregg in the hot seat on more than one occasion. 

Bartlet Administration: 

Schott was hired as the Deputy Press Secretary for Media Relations in June of 2005. She served the administration for a year, briefing the press on state events and prepping for morning shows. 

Santos Campaign and Administration: 

In September of 2006, Schott joined the Santos/McGarry For A Brighter America campaign as the personal aide to Vice-Presidential Candidate Leo McGarry. Although rumors at the time suggested that Schott and McGarry were romantically involved, Schott has since stated that those rumors were completely unfounded. McGarry passed away on November 7, 2006. 

Beginning in January 2007, Schott served as Press Secretary and Spokesperson for First Lady Helen Santos. She served in this capacity, upholding the press organization for many of the First Lady’s initiatives, until January of 2015. 

After the White House: 

Schott moved to Manhattan following the end of the Santos Administration and was quickly offered a job at 5W Public Relations. As a top partner in the firm, she quickly turned around many businesses, and also provided PR support to various branches of NBC News. It was this close partnership that caused NBC chief Andy Lack to notice her and hire her as the new public relations head for  _ Today.  _

_ Today:  _

She began her tenure at  _ Today  _ just 72 hours before news broke that Matt Lauer had been terminated by NBC News for allegations of sexual harassment. One of her first big assignments was managing the media fallout from the firing. She remained on the PR team of  _ Today  _ even after Hoda Kotb began her tenure as co-host, and left in December of 2019. 

Political Career: 

In January of 2020, Schott began to manage Donnatella Lyman’s campaign for the Maryland House of Delegates, while also dabbling in PR through DC’s Vanguard Communications. Since January 2021, she has served as Lyman’s Chief of Staff. 

… 

**Ainsley Katherine Hayes-Seaborn** (born October 8, 1968) is an American attorney who is the current First Lady of the United States. She assumed the role on January 20, 2019, when her husband, Samuel Seaborn, became the 45th President of the United States. 

Early Life and Education: 

Ainsley Katherine Hayes was born on October 8, 1968, in Greensboro, North Carolina, the fourth of six children of Thomas Hayes, an orthodontist, and his wife Celia. Her family is lifelong members of the Republican Party, going back several generations. Her grandfather, Martin Hayes, was the State Chair of the North Carolina Republican Party. 

As a child, she accompanied her father and elder brother to events helping to elect local and national Republican candidates-including the presidential re-election of Richard Nixon-and got her first taste of American politics. At Greensboro Day School, she was a member of the Young Republicans Club and the debate team. 

Hayes attended Smith College in Massachusetts, where she majored in political science and government. She graduated from Smith in 1990, and went to Harvard Law School, attaining her JD in 1993. 

Career: 

Hayes began her career working as a clerk for Abernathy and Whitman in Greensboro. In 1994, she took a leave of absence to volunteer for the North Carolina office of Republican candidate Owen Taggart, who would win the 1994 Presidential Election. Watching Taggart be elected propelled her to a life in DC. 

After two years as a law clerk, she moved to DC in 1995, securing a clerk position with US Court of Appeals Judge Lynn Coltrane. When moderate Republican Taggart appointed Justice Ronald Dreifort to the United States Supreme Court in 1997, she applied for and was given a law clerkship in Justice Dreifort’s office. 

She left Dreifort’s office in 1999 to pursue her dream of becoming a political analyst. Beginning in 2000, she wrote several op-ed columns for  _ The Washington Post _ that were noticed by the producers of  _ Capitol Beat _ , a DC-based political talk show _.  _ On her first appearance on the show, after she faced off with White House Deputy Communications Samuel Seaborn (whom she would later marry), she was noticed by Democratic President Josiah Bartlet, who asked White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry to hire her as Associate White House Counsel under Lionel Tribbey. At the 2018 Democratic National Convention, speaking before the nomination, Hayes paraphrased McGarry, “Surround yourself with smart people who disagree with you.” 

Hayes would serve two years in the White House, before leaving to follow former boss Tribbey to the ACLU of Northern California. She worked as an ACLU lawyer, passing the California Bar, and eventually transferred to the Hoover Institute at Stanford. She then transferred to the DC branch of the Institute, where she was offered a job as White House Counsel under newly elected Democratic President Matthew Santos. 

White House Counsel: 

Hayes served as White House Counsel from 2007 to 2014. In 2007, she married Samuel Seaborn, with whom she had reconnected in California, legally changing her name to Hayes-Seaborn. 

As President Santos’s closest legal adviser, she handled several legal matters that came up, including the legal ramifications of the Free Immigration Act. 

In early 2014, she stepped down as White House Counsel to focus on raising her children, and to support her husband in his political aspirations. She remained a close adviser to the Santos Administration for the remainder of his second term. Clifford Calley, a friend of hers from law school, succeeded her. 

Political Campaigns: 

In 2014, Hayes-Seaborn stood by her husband as he announced his run for Congress. She broke ground by becoming one of the first spouses ever to run a campaign at the state level and, later, at the national level. Seaborn was elected to Congress on November 4, 2014, two months after the birth of their second child. 

On October 28, 2017, Seaborn announced his candidacy for President of the United States and caused political waves when Hayes-Seaborn was appointed to be his campaign manager within two weeks of his campaign announcement. However, Hayes-Seaborn quickly rose to the challenge of becoming the campaign director. 

Just two weeks before the election, the opinion pieces Hayes-Seaborn had written before joining the Bartlet Administration, in which she made particularly inflammatory comments about the Democratic Party, became public. In a televised address on October 30, Hayes-Seaborn made an impassioned plea to the American people on behalf of her country, urging the voters to not denounce her husband because of what she believed. On November 6, Seaborn was elected the 45th President of the United States. 

First Lady: 

Ainsley Hayes-Seaborn became the First Lady of the United States on January 20, 2019. Shortly before she took office, she appointed Gina Christiansen, the former media director for her husband’s campaign, to become her Chief of Staff. 

As part of a new generation of First Ladies (beginning with Abigail Bartlet) that had a career before the White House, she focused her attention on servicing working mothers and working single parents. She was instrumental in getting a stimulus package through Congress that provided stimulus checks to working parents who take family leave. 

Hayes-Seaborn most recently has introduced a women’s healthcare initiative, providing support and research to infertility medication trials, as well as to in vitro fertilization clinics. She has told the story of her own struggles with infertility many times to mother’s groups throughout the nation. 

Personal Life: 

Hayes-Seaborn met Samuel Seaborn in 2000 on the cable television program  _ Capitol Beat.  _ After several years of distance, they reconnected and became engaged in July 2006. They were married in her hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina on October 20, 2007. 

Since her husband took office, as part of her women’s healthcare initiative, Ainsley Hayes-Seaborn has been open about the couple’s early struggles with infertility. On February 17, 2010, after two years of trying, they welcomed their first son, Connor Joshua. A daughter, Ava Josephine, was born on September 5, 2014. They were 8 and 4, respectively, when their father took office.


	4. The Next Generation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Passing the torch...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter includes both candidates for the 2006 election, plus the eventual First Family post-Bartlet.

**Chapter 4: The Next Generation**

**Matthew Vincente Santos** (born July 9, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in many different positions in Houston politics, including mayor, before being elected to the House of Representatives in 2000. After three terms, he entered the 2006 primary race as a dark-horse candidate and managed to secure the Democratic nomination and the Presidency. 

Early Life and Education: 

Matthew Vincente Santos was born on July 9, 1961, at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Houston, Texas. He is the second child and eldest son of seven children born to Luis Santos (1931-2009), a barber, and his wife Marita (1933-2016) (nee Valdez), a domestic servant. 

He was raised in the Second Ward, the oldest Mexican-American neighborhood in Houston, where his family had lived for six generations. Beginning as early as elementary school, Santos worked for his uncle’s family-owned hardware store, instilling in him the value of hard work and family. 

He was visited by a Marine Corps recruiter during his senior year at Austin High School and was persuaded to join the Marine Corps as a pilot. He graduated from high school in 1979. 

College and Military: 

Santos attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, graduating in 1983 with a degree in Engineering. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, undergoing training as a pilot. He flew as a combat fighter pilot in the Gulf War. He served in the Marine Corps for 10 years, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and maintained enlistment in the Marine Corps Reserves until he was inaugurated President in 2007. 

Politics

After leaving active duty military, Santos followed a long-forgotten dream of entering politics (a dream that had started when he visited his local Congressman’s office in 1979) by running for, and being elected to, the Houston City Council. While serving on the City Council, he focused his attention on his home neighborhood of the Second Ward, starting revitalization programs and forming a neighborhood watch group. 

After two years on the City Council, Santos was elected the Mayor of Houston-the city’s first Hispanic mayor. His major focus in the city became health care, opening eight new health clinics and forming a new housing assistance program. After four years as Mayor, he was elected to the U.S House of Representatives in Texas’s 18th District. 

Congress: 

Santos was elected to the House of Representatives in the 2000 midterm elections, representing Texas’s 18th District, including the city of Houston, and was re-elected twice. He served on the House Administration Committee and the Ways and Means Committee, leading the movement of temporary assistance to families in Houston and working diligently on job creation. He also pushed for education grants to college-age students and health insurance for underprivileged children. In 2005, he was instrumental in passing the bipartisan Patient’s Bills of Rights. 

2006 Election: 

Joshua Lyman, then the Deputy White House Chief of Staff for President Bartlet, approached Santos to run for the Presidency. He threw his hat into his race on January 9, 2006, in Houston, Texas. He was quickly pitted against strong Democratic contenders Bob Russell and John Hoynes. On February 18, 2006, he rented out a New Hampshire television studio and aired a one-minute live television ad that broadcast him and his viewpoints to a large national audience. 

He came in third in New Hampshire and gained traction when he won the Arizona, New Mexico, and California primaries. By the Democratic National Convention, the three candidates were entering a deadlocked race. Rumors began to circulate that Santos was being asked to step aside, but on the last night of the convention, rather than conceding, Santos implored the delegates to choose a candidate on their own. By the end of the night, the delegates had nominated Santos for the Democratic nomination, and he selected former White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry to serve as his running mate. 

The general election pitted Santos against Republican candidate Arnold Vinick. After an incredibly close race, Santos began to pull ahead thanks to an October surprise involving the San Andreo nuclear accident. Vinick had arranged the funding for San Andreo nearly 25 years earlier. 

On Election Night, a close race was shrouded in tragedy when Santos’ running mate, Leo McGarry, died of a massive heart attack 90 minutes before the polls were set to close on the West Coast. Thirty minutes after McGarry’s death was confirmed by NBC News, Matthew Santos read a brief statement from his campaign hotel in Houston, saying in part, “America has lost a giant tonight, and I have lost a friend...If I win this election, the country will be worse off because Leo McGarry will not be there to help me run it.” Six hours after McGarry’s death, Santos was elected President of the United States. 

Presidency: 

On January 20, 2007, Santos was sworn into office, his wife and children by his side. His first order of business as President was selecting Governor Eric Baker of Pennsylvania to serve as his Vice-President under the 25th Amendment. On April 1, 2007, the Senate confirmed Baker to be the new Vice-President. 

Early in his first term, he was faced with the developing Kazakhstan crisis, which he dealt with alongside his newly appointed Secretary of State, Arnold Vinick. It was not until 2012 that he was able to pull troops out of the war-torn country. 

Santos also pushed forward his new education package. While he lost on his first goal of extending the school year, he was able to pass a law regulating teacher tenure. Some of his other major bills included the Free Immigration Act, the Second Patient’s Bill of Rights, the Forestry Protection Act, and the Washington Depot/Sandy Hook Law, regulating waiting periods for guns. The bill was named for two of the school shootings that occurred during Santos’ second term; the Washington Depot Elementary School shooting targeted the children of his Chief of Staff, Joshua Lyman. 

On November 2, 2010, Santos was re-elected for a second term. In addition to succeeding in troop withdrawal from Kazakhstan, some of his other second-term successes included the waiting period law and a bill requiring free clinics to be established in all poor communities. 

After the White House: 

In January 2015, Matthew and Helen Santos returned to Houston, where he continues to be an advisor to President Seaborn, and works hard to support local government in Houston. The Santos Presidential Library is set to open in Houston in the summer of 2021. 

Personal Life: 

While on leave from the Marines, Santos met Helen Miller, a friend of his younger sister Rosa, at a church picnic in 1990. After corresponding while Santos was serving in the Gulf War, Santos returned in May of 1991 and proposed. They were married at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church on August 3, 1991. They have two children: Peter Matthew (b. 5/19/1995) and Miranda Rose (b. 8/12/2000). 

In 2017, Santos wrote  _ Tomorrow _ , a memoir about his years in the Presidency. 

… 

**Arnold Joseph Vinick** (born January 28, 1940) is a retired American politician and diplomat who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State. Prior to his appointment by President Matthew Santos, he was the Republican nominee for the 2006 presidential election, losing by a narrow 6 electoral votes. He had previously served as a senator of California for 24 years. 

Early Life and Education: 

Vinick was born Arnold Joseph Vinick on January 28, 1940, at New York Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn. He was born to Richard Vinick, a public school teacher, and his wife Patricia, a housewife and community activist. A younger brother, Robert, was born in 1944. When Vinick was 4, drawn by the idea of raising oranges, Richard and Patricia moved their young family to the small orange-grove community of Santa Paula, California. 

Encouraged by his parents, Vinick became involved in the community as a young teenager, volunteering at the public library and embracing the history of his home state. 

He graduated from James Madison High School in 1958 and obtained a degree in political science from Yale University. After graduating from Stanford Law School in 1965, he returned to Santa Paula and opened a law firm to help the people of his community. 

Early Political Career: 

After 12 years serving as an attorney for the city, in 1977, Vinick was elected by the Santa Paula townspeople to a seat on the City Council, securing the very first write-in victory. Over his two year term, he oversaw many refurbishment projects, including the California Oil Museum. 

Following his term on the City Council, he ran for and was elected to the California State Assembly. He advocated for families, the environment, and farming communities throughout Ventura County. 

Senate: 

In early 1982, Vinick announced he would seek the open seat representing the State of California in the United States Senate. He was elected and sworn in as a Senator on January 3, 1983. 

The first committee he was assigned to as a freshman Senator was the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he met and befriended future Pennsylvania Governor (and Vice-President) Eric Baker. 

He sought re-election three times and won-in 1988, 1994, and 2000. He served on the Finance Committee, Foreign Relations Committee, and the Committee on Environment and Public Works. During his four terms in the Senate, he fought for issues such as patient’s rights, affordable healthcare, Social Security, and pension protection. His “Freedom to Farm” initiative  protected the rights of small farmers against bureaucratic subsidies. 

U.S. Presidential Run: 

In November 2005, Vinick announced he would not seek re-election to a fifth term, and would instead seek the Republican nomination for President. His battle for the nomination was a hard-fought one, as he struggled to win over the conservative states who could not reconcile his pro-choice stance. Despite this, he defeated former Speaker of the House Glen Allen Walken and conservative televangelist Reverend Don Butler to win the Republican nomination on July 15, 2006. On July 17, he announced West Virginia Governor Ray Sullivan as his running mate. 

On September 7, 2006, Vinick participated in the only Presidential debate of the season, which was reported to be a tie. 

On October 6, 2006, reports began to surface following the San Andreo, California nuclear accident that Vinick helped push the funding for the plant upon its inception in 1991. The next day, facing severe criticism, Vinick chose to blame the Bartlet Administration for maintaining poor federal regulations. His opinions caused a sharp turn of public opinion against him.  He managed to regain some ground in a press conference following the near nuclear meltdown, on October 9, in which he provided a compelling rationale that nuclear energy was still safe. 

On Election Day, Vinick won 27 states, including his home state of California, but narrowly lost the election to Democratic candidate Matthew Santos. 

Secretary of State: 

Matthew Santos announced on December 8, 2006, that he was appointing Vinick to become the 67th United States Secretary of State. He would be confirmed by the Senate on March 1, 2007. 

During his two terms as Secretary of State, succeeding Lewis Berryhill, Vinick gave valuable advice to Santos regarding the Russia-China crisis in Kazakhstan, developed diplomatic relationships with Kundu and Palestine, and became a well-respected foreign diplomat. 

After the White House: 

Vinick returned to California after his term as Secretary of State had ended. He is currently living with his son, and is in the process of writing a book about his experiences in the 2006 election, to be released in February 2021. 

Personal Life: 

Vinick married his wife, the former Catherine McHale, on June 16, 1969. They were married until her death from cancer in 2003. They had four children: Christopher (b. 1971), Tina (b. 1974), Rebecca (b. 1976), and Andrea (b. 1978). He has been blessed with eleven grandchildren. 

… 

… 

**Glen Allen Walken** (born June 20, 1950) is an American politician who served as the Acting President of the United States from May 8 to May 10, 2003. He previously served as the Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2001 to 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. 

Early Life: 

Glen Allen Walken was born on June 20, 1950, in Liberty, Missouri to Leonard Walken, the town Postmaster, and his wife Virginia “Ginny”, a high school nurse. 

He was an only child, and his parents consistently taught him the value of hard work and of patriotism. It was this patriotism that inspired him to enlist in the Army after graduating high school in 1968 at the height of the Vietnam War. He served in the Army’s 1st Infantry stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas. 

Career: 

After leaving the Army in 1971, Walken attended Missouri State University, where he obtained a BA in History in 1975. He graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Law in 1977. 

He opened his own law practice in Liberty, where he focused on land deals and property law. He made several investments in restaurants and other businesses. In 1985, he made the decision to run for Congress, in Missouri’s 6th District and was elected in November 1986. 

Congress:    
  


Walken served eight terms in the House of Representatives. Committees he served on included the House Armed Services Committee, Ways and Means, and House Oversight and Government Reform. In 1997, he became the House Majority Whip and in 1999 became the House Majority Leader. 

He was elected to be the Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2001. 

Presidency: 

On May 7, 2003, at 11:30 PM EST, Zoey Bartlet was abducted by Qumari terrorists. At 5:30 A.M. on May 8, Walken, as the next member of the line of succession (following the resignation of Vice-President John Hoynes), was informed that President Josiah Bartlet was invoking the 25th Amendment. Walken resigned from his seat in Congress (per the  Succession Act of 1947) and was sworn in by Justice Sharon Day. He held a joint press conference with Bartlet where the nation was informed of the change in power.

His first and only act as Acting President was to bomb Qumari terrorist training camps in retaliation for Bartlet’s kidnapping. After 50 hours, Bartlet was located and recovered by the FBI, and Walken signed power back over to President Bartlet. 

2006 Presidential Election: 

On November 2, 2005, Walken announced that he would seek the Republican nomination for the Presidency. He was considered to be a frontrunner for the nomination due to his stint as Acting President. 

He placed 2nd in the Iowa Caucus but caused controversy prior to the New Hampshire primary when he called for military action against Iran. This controversy allowed for California Senator Arnold Vinick to become the frontrunner for the nomination. He made a last gasp for the nomination during the run-up to the Florida primary when he attacked the Bartlet Administration for negotiating with Fidel Castro. On May 15, 2006, he announced in a speech to his supporters that he would withdraw from the race. 

Post-Presidency: 

Walken retired to Missouri with his wife and became a goodwill ambassador to the Republican Party while serving as a governmental adviser at the Missouri State House, where he remains today. 

Personal Life: 

Walken married the former Mary Cofer on April 19, 1975. They have four children (Michael, Linda, Daniel, and Celia) and nine grandchildren. 

… 

**Peter Matthew Santos** (born May 19, 1995) is an engineer who is the eldest child and only son of former President Matthew Santos and his wife Helen. A recent graduate of Texas A&M University, he is currently training as an engineer in the United States Marine Corps in North Carolina. 

Early Life: 

Peter Matthew Santos was born on May 19, 1995, at St. Joseph Medical Center. His father Matthew was, at the time, serving on the Houston City Council, while his mother Helen was a devoted stay-at-home parent. During Peter’s early years, he was raised in the same close-knit community that his father had grown up in, and eventually watched as his father became mayor of the city. In 2000, he became a big brother when his younger sister Miranda was born. They are both bilingual, learning both English and Spanish from an early age.

He attended schools in the Houston Independent School District, while Matthew Santos served as Mayor and, eventually as a Congressman. 

Election and First Son 

When Peter was 10, Santos announced his candidacy for the Presidency. While Helen worked to make sure her children stayed out of the limelight, both children eventually made appearances with their father on the campaign trail during the general election campaign. Santos was elected President on November 7, 2006. 

The Santos family broke ground by allowing their children to attend public school, “normalizing” their lives as much as possible. On June 16, 2007, he played piano for the wedding of his parents’ Chiefs of Staff. 

During his years in the White House, Peter Santos kept to himself, electing to focus on being a student (mainly due to his mother’s influence) occasionally appearing alongside his family. He participated in his father’s re-election campaign in 2010, at the age of 15. 

While attending high school, Peter participated in robotics and AP science courses. One of his few solo campaigns as the First Son was to advocate for more children, particularly those of low-income status, to participate in the SAT and ACT.  _ Time  _ magazine named him one of 2013’s “25 Most Influential Teens”. 

He graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in May of 2013 as a National Merit Scholar. Choosing to attend Georgetown and gain a degree in engineering, he assimilated into college life quickly. 

College and military 

After his father left office, Peter retreated into private life, finishing his studies and graduating  _ magna cum laude  _ from Georgetown in 2017. He was accepted to Texas A&M University for graduate school and, following in his father’s footsteps, received an ROTC scholarship. 

Obtaining a graduate degree in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M, he enlisted in the Marines, where he is currently training at Camp Lejeune to become a Marine Corps engineer. 

… 

**Miranda Rose Santos** (born August 12, 2000) is the youngest child and only daughter of former President Matthew Santos and his wife Helen. She is a college student currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater at the University of Houston. 

Early Life: 

Miranda Santos was born at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Houston to Matthew and Helen Santos. She was born on August 12, 2000, and delivered by emergency c-section. She was two and a half months premature and spent two months in the NICU at Texas Children’s Hospital before being released in October. Three months after her birth, her father, Matthew Santos, was elected the Congressman for Texas’ 18th District, representing Houston. 

Like her brother, Miranda was raised by both parents in the solid community of Houston’s Second Ward in her earliest years, dipping into her father’s political world only occasionally. They are both bilingual, learning both English and Spanish from an early age. When she was 5, however, her life flipped upside down when he announced he was running for President. 

Campaigns and First Daughter: 

Miranda was attending kindergarten in the Houston Independent School District at the time Santos announced his candidacy, and her mother Helen made sure she finished out the school year before allowing her and her brother to appear alongside their parents on the campaign trail. 

At age 6, Miranda watched as her father was elected President of the United States. The family moved into the White House in January of 2007, where Helen’s main goal was to keep her children out of the limelight as much as she could. 

The Santos family broke ground by enrolling their children in public school. For much of her father’s presidency, Miranda attended the Brightwood Education Campus in Washington DC. For the first semester of ninth grade, just before the family moved back to Houston, she attended Woodrow Wilson High School. 

Miranda spent much of her time in the Santos White House out of the public eye, attending dance and drama classes. On June 16, 2007, she was the flower girl for the wedding of her parents’ Chiefs of Staff, Josh Lyman and Donna Moss. Her eighth-grade dance was held in the East Room of the White House. 

After Presidency: 

After her father left office, Miranda resumed a normal and private life, attending Phillis Wheatley High School and graduating in May 2018. While in high school, she continued her evolving interest in drama, appearing in  _ A Midsummer Night’s Dream  _ and  _ Seussical,  _ among others. Though she entered the University of Houston as an undecided major, she eventually transferred to the theatre department, where she continues to study today. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you are still enjoying these! Two more chapters to come!


	5. Minor Characters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five significant side characters who each had a direct bearing on either the Bartlet, Santos, or Seaborn administrations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, for this chapter, my last for characters, I wanted to write biographies for a few side characters that each had a significant role to play in the West Wing universe: Will Bailey, Andy Wyatt, Admiral Fitzwallace, Jack Reese, and Bruno Gianelli. Hope you enjoy it!

**Chapter 5: Minor Characters**

**William Franklin Bailey** (born  January 17, 1960)  is a political analyst and frequent remote commentator for CNN from his hometown of Portland, Oregon. He previously served as a Congressman from the Oregon 4th District from 2009 to 2013 and as a campaign manager for various state and national campaigns. He also served as the White House Communications Director from 2006 to 2007. 

Early Life and Education: 

Bailey was born on January 17, 1960, in Philadelphia, the only son of Maura Bailey, the third wife of Thomas Bailey, the Supreme Commander of NATO Allied Forces Europe. He was the youngest of eight children by three wives, the eldest of which was 24 years his senior. While his mother reared him with love and support, he did not have much contact with his father. His parents divorced when he was six years old, two years after the birth of his sister Elsie.

He moved to London to attend Eton College in 1973 and to live with his father, who he barely knew. He graduated from Eton as valedictorian in 1978, then attended the University of Cambridge, studying history. After a falling-out with his father, he permanently moved back to the States, refusing to have any more contact. 

Military: 

At loose ends in 1982, he enlisted in the Air Force and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant due to his college background. He served for four years, attaining the rank of First Lieutenant, before becoming a reservist in the JAG Corps. He remained in the reserves until 2004. 

Career: 

Following his military service, he moved to attend Carnegie Mellon University to obtain a Master’s Degree in Political Science. Following that, he began his lifetime of service in politics, beginning with several unsuccessful Congressional campaigns. He ran a campaign for Matthew Chulo of Oregon in 1994 and lost. He then continued to run many different campaigns. 

In 2002, he gained notoriety in local politics when his candidate for the California 47th District, Horton Wilde, died of a massive heart attack weeks before Election Day. Rather than fold the campaign, Bailey persisted with the campaign and left his candidate’s name on the ballot. It was at this time that he met White House Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn, who volunteered to run in Wilde’s place in the special election held after Wilde was elected to the Congressional seat in a long-shot victory. Seaborn was impressed enough by Bailey to invite him to become his replacement in the White House. 

Bailey was appointed as the White House Deputy Communications Director in January 2003. He served in this capacity until he left to work for new Vice-President Robert Russell as his Chief of Staff in July 2003. At that point, the post remained vacant until Edie DeMarco took over in the Santos Administration. 

He found himself on the campaign trail once again in 2005 when Russell announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination. As the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party, Russell’s campaign was caught unprepared by the sudden rise of Matthew Santos. After a deadlocked convention, Russell lost the nomination to Santos. 

After his stunning defeat, Bailey returned to the Vice-President’s office. After a month, he was recruited to be the new White House Communications Director when Toby Ziegler was unexpectedly fired after leaking classified national security information. He maintained this position until President Josiah Bartlet left office in January 2007. 

In 2007, he moved to Oregon to work for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He also expressed interest in running for an open congressional seat in the Oregon 4th District against John Heffinger in 2008. 

In 2008, he was elected to Congress and was appointed to the Ways and Means Committee. He served two terms in Congress before retiring in 2013. He then joined the DCCC, where he continues to be a political analyst and occasionally appears on CNN to comment on the DCCC’s potential candidates. 

Personal Life: 

Bailey met his wife, former Deputy NSA Kate Harper, in 2005 when both were working in Washington DC. They moved in together in Portland in 2007. 

They married on July 9, 2009, at Multnomah County Circuit Court. The press reacted strongly to the elopement, calling out Bailey for his secret romance. Bailey eventually issued a statement, saying in part, “My wife and I are very happy together, and this does not have any bearings in my political expertise.” 

In 2011, they decided to adopt older children, sensing a need for homes for “unadoptable” children. They eventually adopted two siblings from foster care, Daisy (born 2005) and Joshua (born 2009). 

… 

**Andrea Colleen Wyatt** (born March 21, 1961) is an American politician currently serving as the 47th Vice President of the United States. Dedicating her life to public service, she served as the Congresswoman to the Maryland 5th District from 1999 to 2018. 

Early Life: 

Andrea Colleen Wyatt was born in Baltimore, Maryland on March 21, 1961. Her parents were both involved in the community. Her father, Martin Wyatt, was a State Senator for the city of Baltimore, while her mother Kathleen served in the Baltimore Chamber of Commerce. She graduated from high school in 1978 and attended Georgetown University for both undergrad and law school. 

Career: 

After passing the Maryland Bar, she decided to pursue politics and moved to Washington DC to work for Congressman Lawrence Beck, an old friend of her father’s. She worked for Beck for six years, before working to get Florida prosecutor Carol Gelsey elected to Congress. It was here, upon seeking assistance from EMILY's List, that she met future White House Press Secretary CJ Cregg, sparking a lifelong friendship. In gratitude for her win, Gelsey appointed Wyatt to be Deputy Chief of Staff for her Congressional office. 

She worked for Gelsey for four years, before becoming Chief of Staff to Congressman Mark Sellner. With Sellner’s support, she began to investigate the possibility of running for Congress herself. In 1998, she was elected to the 106th Congress. 

Congress: 

Wyatt quickly became prominent as a freshman Congresswoman-after a year, she was the third-ranking member on International Relations, a position she held throughout her terms of Congress. 

Some of the bills she pushed through Congress were: the Seat Belt Law, a bill banning automatic weapons, and a landmark bill regulating foreign oil. In 2005, she went on a Congressional Delegation and was one of the only main members of the delegation to survive when a car bomb took the lives of two of her fellow Congressmen. 

She remained in Congress until 2018 when Congressman Sam Seaborn recruited her to be his running mate for the 2018 election. 

Vice-Presidential Election: 

On July 31, 2018, Wyatt was officially named as Seaborn’s running mate at the Democratic National Convention. She made many appearances with him on and off the campaign trail, while also working on her own events throughout the general election cycle. During the first and only Vice-Presidential debate, she politely and firmly managed to clinch a win over Senator Robert Royce. 

On November 6, 2018, Wyatt was elected the Vice-President with 320 electoral votes. 

Vice-Presidency: 

On January 20, 2019, Wyatt was sworn in in a private ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, as January 20 fell on a Sunday. She was sworn in again publicly the next day. Justice Roberto Mendoza administered the Oath of Office. 

As President Seaborn’s foreign emissary, she has served as the negotiator for the West Bank and represents the President as a goodwill ambassador on many foreign and domestic trips. She served as the tiebreaker on the Clean Air Act in the Senate. 

Personal Life: 

Wyatt met political operative Tobias “Toby” Ziegler in 1994 at the Democratic National Convention, when he was shilling for votes, and she was accompanying her boss. The pair were introduced by Cregg, a mutual friend. They were married on April 11, 1995, at the Office of the City Clerk in New York City. In February of 1999, just one month into Wyatt’s first term as a freshman Congresswoman, they legally separated. Their divorce was finalized in June. 

In November of 2002, after many years of trying for a child during her marriage, Wyatt released a statement that she had become pregnant with twins. The father of the babies, she said, was her ex-husband Toby Ziegler, a cause for scrutiny among her fellow representatives and the media. On May 7, 2003, she gave birth to Huckleberry “Huck” and Molly Ziegler, the latter named for Secret Service Agent Molly O’Connor, killed in the kidnapping of Zoey Bartlet that occurred the same night. 

… 

**Admiral Percy John Fitzwallace** (December 27, 1939-May 27, 2005) was a United States Navy Admiral who served as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 31, 1994, to June 2, 2003. He was killed in the line of duty on May 27, 2005, while serving on a Congressional Delegation to the Gaza Strip, where a bomb detonated near their car. 

Early Life: 

Percy John Fitzwallace was born at Bob Wilson Naval Hospital (now Naval Medical Center San Diego) on December 27, 1939. His parents were James Fitzwallace, a police officer, and his wife Mary. Seeing the way his father served his country inspired him to pursue a career in the military. 

Education: 

Fitzwallace graduated from high school in 1957 and was accepted into the Naval Academy. He was among the first African-Americans to be accepted into the school. 

Graduating from Annapolis in 1961, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and stationed on the  _ USS Charles F. Adams,  _ then the  _ USS America _ for two tours in Vietnam. She served on many notable warships, rising through the ranks, culminating in a tour of duty in the Gulf War aboard the  _ USS Fort McHenry.  _

Medals and Commendations: 

In order of precedence, the medals and commendations that Fitzwallace received were:  Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medal with Silver Oak Leaf Cluster; Legion of Merit Officer Medal; Defense Meritorious Service Medal with Gold Star Device; Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Bronze "V" for Valor; Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal with Silver Star in lieu of Fifth Award and Gold Star in lieu of Sixth Award; Combat Action with Gold Star Device; Navy Presidential Unit Citation with Bronze Star Device; Joint Meritorious Unit Award with Frame; Navy Unit Commendation with Silver Wreathed "E" Device; Navy Expeditionary Medal with Silver Star Device; National Defense Service Medal; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with Silver Star Device; Vietnam Service Medal with Triple Bronze Star Device; Southwest Asia Service Medal; Southwest Asia Service Medal with Bronze Star Device; Navy Sea Service Deployment with Silver Star Device; Navy & Marine Corps Overseas Service with Bronze Star Device; Republic of Vietnam (RVN) Campaign Medal; Saudi Arabian Medal for the Liberation of Kuwait; and the Liberation of Kuwait Medal. 

On January 6, 1993, in recognition of his work in Kuwait, he was commissioned as a four-star General, the first African-American to do so. 

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs: 

In October of 1994, President Owen Taggart appointed him to be the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest rank given to a military officer. He remained in this position through President Josiah Bartlet’s first term in office. 

During this time, he oversaw a large-scale military operation in Syria, troop deployment in the India-Pakistan War, and the killing of Qumari defense minister Abdul Shareef. 

After nine years in the job, Fitzwallace announced his retirement and named his successor as General Nicholas Alexander, the Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. His final act in office was to carry out the bombing of Qumari terrorist camps in retaliation for Zoey Bartlet’s kidnapping. 

Death: 

Fitzwallace was accompanying a fact-finding Congressional Delegation to the Gaza Strip on May 27, 2005, when  a bomb detonated near their car. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

On May 30, he received a full-honor military funeral at St. Anne’s Episcopal Church. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. 

Personal Life: 

He married his wife, the former Laura Connors, in 1961. They had no children. 

… 

**Admiral John Wilson “Jack” Reese** (born August 8, 1969) is the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He previously served as Vice Chairman from 2016 to 2019, and prior to that served as an Admiral on the  _ USS Seawolf,  _ a nuclear submarine _.  _ He was commissioned as a four-star admiral on September 11, 2018. 

Early Life and Education: 

John Wilson Reese was born in Naples, Italy to Matthew and Charlotte Reese on August 8, 1969, while his father served as a Naval aviator. Traveling around the world throughout his childhood, he aspired to do what his father did and join the Navy. 

He graduated from Waipahu High School near Pearl Harbor and was accepted to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Upon graduation in 1991, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. 

Military Career

He was first assigned as a Naval submarine officer to the  _ USS Alexandria  _ in New London, Connecticut. Throughout the next six years, he served on both the  _ Alexandria  _ and the  _ USS Florida  _ in Kings Bay, Georgia. 

Following this commission, he was sent to Annapolis to become a regional field officer for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was assigned to the White House briefly in 2002 to be a military aide for National Security Advisor Nancy McNally before being transferred to his birth city of Naples. He was eventually transferred back to the US, where he worked as a military adviser at the Pentagon for several years and served as a Commander of Midshipmen at his alma mater of the Naval Academy. In 2012, he was appointed the Chief of Naval Operations by President Matthew Santos as a Vice Admiral. 

In 2014, as an Admiral, he was asked to serve a year-long commission on the  _ USS Seawolf,  _ where he was responsible for the launch of several nuclear missiles during Matthew Santos’ final year in office. 

Due to his outstanding work on the submarine, he was appointed as the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by President Ray Sullivan in 2015. On September 11, 2018, he was commissioned as a four-star admiral, and two months later, was tapped to serve as the new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in the Seaborn Administration. 

… 

**Bruno Robert Gianelli** ( July 2, 1946 – March 15, 2009) was a political consultant and professional campaign manager who was well-known around Washington politics for winning more elections than anyone else. Among other notable elections, he served as the campaign manager for the second Bartlet For America campaign and consulted on the 2006 Vote Vinick campaign. 

He was well-known for not expressing his political beliefs, but rather gravitating towards the side most likely to win the election. 

Early Life and Education: 

Gianelli was born in Ticonderoga, Essex County, NY, the eldest son of Robert and Elizabeth Gianelli. He was the eldest of four children. His parents encouraged their children to be politically active and were active members of the Democratic Party. However, according to Gianelli’s obituary, it was the decision-making of the elections that fascinated him. 

He attended the State University of New York at Buffalo, majoring in political science. He then went on to get a Master’s degree in international relations from Columbia University. 

Career: 

After graduating from Columbia in 1971, Gianelli sought work at the New York state legislature. He was hired as an intern for the Department of Civil Service, where he worked through the ranks until he was the Deputy Commissioner of Municipal Services. At this time, in 1978, his direct boss sought election to be Governor of New York and selected Gianelli to run his campaign. He won the election and became the next Governor, and Gianelli officially kicked off his career in professional politics. 

Over the next 25 years, Gianelli oversaw the campaigns of the following politicians: Governor William Wiley of Washington (1982), Senator Mark Willis of Michigan (1984), the re-election campaign of Senator Arnold Vinick of California (1988), Senator William Wiley of Washington (1992-repeat), Senator Barbara Layton of North Carolina (1994), the re-election campaign of Senator Howard Stackhouse (1994), Governor Randall Wilkins of New Hampshire (1998), and the Prime Minister of Israel in 2000. He was assisted in these efforts by deputy campaign manager Connie Tate and speechwriter Doug Wegland. 

In 2001, he was hired by White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry to oversee Josiah Bartlet’s 2002 reelection campaign. He also brought in his own staff. By taking the focus off of Bartlet’s reveal of his multiple sclerosis and focusing on his ability to lead, he managed to secure a win over Governor Robert Ritchie in the 2002 presidential election. 

The 2006 election saw Gianelli accept an offer as a political consultant for the flagging “Vote Vinick” general election campaign. The Republican National Committee chose to fire campaign manager Sheila Brooks (though Brooks resigned due to her visibility) and bring in no-nonsense campaign director Jane Braun. Through Gianelli and Braun’s expertise, the Vinick/Sullivan campaign weathered the fallout of the San Andreo nuclear accident and led the campaign to garner 267 votes on Election Day, narrowly losing to Matthew Santos. 

Death

Shortly after the disappointment of the Vinick loss, Gianelli was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lung cancer. Though doctors initially proclaimed his prognosis to be good, his cancer returned in the winter of 2008. For the first campaign season since 1978, Gianelli did not find a candidate to manage in 2008, choosing to focus on his health. 

Gianelli died in his summer home in Essex County on March 15, 2009. He never married and had no children. He was survived by his three siblings: Daniel “Danny”, Susan, and Carolyn. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for more! Next up, the events that turned our characters' worlds upside down!


	6. Events

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three events that shaped the Bartlet Administration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this last chapter, I wanted to hit on a few events that shaped the Bartlet Administration. I hope you've enjoyed these articles!

**Chapter 6: Events**

**2000 Assassination Attempt of Josiah Bartlet**

On August 7, 2000, United States President Josiah Bartlet was wounded by the bullet of one of two assassins: Adam Keenan and Nathaniel Harrison. Two others were wounded in the shooting, including White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joshua Lyman. 

Events Leading Up to The Shooting: 

In the spring of 2000, the President’s youngest daughter Zoey began dating his personal aide, Charles Young, who was African-American. Their relationship incited death threats to be sent to both Bartlet and Young and alerting the US Secret Service to the existence of a group called the West Virginia White Pride. 

Meanwhile, West Virginia White Pride members Adam Keenan, Nathaniel Harrison, and Carl LeRoy plotted to kill Young. They made their move on August 7, 2000, when President Bartlet was scheduled to speak at a town hall at the Newseum in Rosslyn, Virginia. 

The shooting

On the evening of the event, a town hall to college students, President Bartlet was wrapping up earlier than usual, shortly before 9:30 EST. Attending the event with Bartlet were Zoey Bartlet, Charles Young, White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joshua Lyman, Communications Director Toby Ziegler, Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn, Press Secretary CJ Cregg, and Secret Service agents Ron Butterfield and Gina Toscano (Zoey Bartlet’s lead agent). 

Bartlet had elected not to use a canopy when exiting the building, preferring to be in the open air where he could see his constituents. He exited the building at 9:32 EST, where LeRoy gave a signal to Keenan and Harrison, who were standing in a window across the street with rifles. Toscano witnessed the exchange and, turning to see the gun, alerted the Secret Service a split second before the first shots were fired, at 9:34 p.m. EST. 

The shooting lasted approximately 8.2 seconds, after which both men were killed instantly by the Secret Service. While Zoey Bartlet and Charles Young were unharmed and secured, the President was rushed into a car. It was believed at the time that the President had not been injured. En route to the White House, Butterfield realized that a bullet had hit the President in the side when blood was spotted oozing from the corner of his mouth. The car immediately turned around and sped towards George Washington University Hospital. Another bullet had injured Butterfield’s left hand; Bartlet insisted that Butterfield needed to have his hand looked at, even as he was being rushed into the emergency room. 

Immediate Aftermath: 

On the ground, a manhunt search was begun for signaler Carl LeRoy, who had disappeared into the crowd just after Toscano spotted him, while two more injuries were discovered. White House staffers discovered several minutes after the shooting that a bullet had struck White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joshua Lyman in the chest. An additional bullet had struck 28-year-old Stephanie Abbott in the leg: Abbott was a graduate student who had come to participate in the “rope line”. Both were also rushed to George Washington University Hospital. Leo McGarry, First Lady Abigail Bartlet, and Vice-President John Hoynes were all immediately secured. 

Bartlet was examined for an entry and exit wound, and taken into exploratory surgery. Fortuitously, the bullet missed all major body systems and no serious injuries were found. During the two-hour procedure, there was no written invocation of the 25th Amendment, causing questions as to who was in charge. Of the three victims, Bartlet recovered the quickest. 

Abbott was treated for a gunshot wound to the left femur. Though her physical recovery took several months, she, too, recovered completely. 

Lyman was injured the most severely. He was conscious but completely disoriented en route to the hospital and in the emergency room. His care was immediately transferred to a thoracic surgeon, who rushed him into surgery. It immediately became clear that the bullet had torn into his chest, causing major damage to the left pulmonary artery and collapsed the left lung. During the 14-hour procedure, he arrested twice as doctors worked painstakingly to repair the artery using a difficult primary repair technique. While doctors operated to save his life, DC community members held a candlelight vigil outside the hospital in his and President Bartlet’s honor. 

White House, World, and Police Reaction: 

CJ Cregg, herself suffering from a laceration to the head and possible concussion, appeared dazed and obviously shaken during initial briefings. Later that night, she made a point of discussing during a briefing how many other people had been killed or violated by gunpoint that night. In her stead, Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn appeared on the morning shows via remote to recount his experiences of the shooting. 

In the Situation Room, while discussions were held about why the 25th Amendment was not invoked, troop movement in Iraq as a result of the shooting was quickly handled. In addition, questions were raised as to why Bartlet exited the building in the open air; the Secret Service’s reply was swift: “The Secret Service does not comment on procedure.” 

An overnight manhunt was conducted for LeRoy; he was apprehended at a Virginia restaurant at approximately 3:30 AM on August 8. When he was taken in for questioning, it was then that Young was revealed as the target of the shooting-not President Bartlet as police originally thought. LeRoy was charged with first-degree assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder. In a four-day trial beginning on January 15, 2001, he was tried and convicted in federal court and sentenced to life in prison in a maximum security facility. He is currently serving a life sentence at Sussex I State Prison in Virginia. 

President Bartlet spent 72 hours in the hospital, recovering from a successful surgery in which no serious injuries were found. He was released on August 11 and immediately resumed his everyday duties. Stephanie Abbott spent a week in the hospital but was also released in good condition. 

Joshua Lyman, against all odds, survived the surgery on his lungs and pulmonary artery. He spent 21 days in the Intensive Care Unit but was released to go home on August 29. It was mid-November before doctors cleared him to return to work. In 2014, during an interview with his wife for  _ 20/20 _ , Lyman revealed that he had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder shortly before Christmas of 2000 in relation to the shooting. 

… 

The  **Bartlet MS Scandal,** lasting from May of 2001 to November of 2002, refers to the disclosure by President Josiah Bartlet that he suffers from relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, and had not disclosed it during the 1998 Presidential Election. It ended when Bartlet accepted a Congressional censure, and eventually managed to win a second term. 

Diagnosis and Initial Circle: 

In 1991, during the runup of his campaign for Governor of New Hampshire, Bartlet began experiencing symptoms of fatigue and tingling that dissipated. Two years, the pain and a strange numbness returned. Following a routine ophthalmological exam, during which the physician noted abnormal pupil responses, Bartlet was sent for an MRI. After the scan was concluded, noting plaque on the brain and spine, Bartlet was diagnosed with a relapsing-remitting course of multiple sclerosis. The diagnosing physician, neurologist Herman Vikram of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, informed Bartlet and his wife of his condition on April 15, 1993. He initially told only his family and pertinent physicians (five radiologists who consulted on the MRI) about the condition.

Bartlet decided, from the beginning, to limit those who knew about the disease, fearing a backlash from his constituents and also concerned that confusion about the disease could cause the end of his career in politics. It was for this reason that, when Leo McGarry approached him to run for President, he kept the secret not only from McGarry, but from the rest of his staff, expecting that he would not get past the primaries and, thus, the MS would not become a problem. Abbey managed the disease with weekly injections of a drug called Betaseron. 

When he did, in fact, win the Democratic nomination, he informed his running mate, Texas Senator John Hoynes, about his condition. According to sources, Hoynes expressed shock but agreed to keep his secret. It was at this time that Abbey got him to promise that if, by some miracle, he won the election, that he would not seek re-election. Bartlet agreed. On November 3, 1998, Bartlet was elected to the Presidency. 

Beginnings of the MS Scandal: 

During the first year of his Presidency, the inner circle who knew about his MS expanded to include now-Chief Of Staff Leo McGarry and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Percy Fitzwallace. On August 7, 2000, after he was shot in the side, anesthesiologist Dr. David Lee became the 16th person to learn of the President’s MS. 

In April 2001, Hoynes, one of the few aware of the President’s one-term agreement, began to plan for his Presidential run in 2002. It was during this time that White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler began to suspect that the President was not running for a second term, mainly due to Hoynes’ “breadcrumbs”, as he later put it. He would become the 17th person, and the one who pointed out to Bartlet that the concealment of his medical condition could be a national conspiracy. 

During the next week, all of Bartlet’s Senior Staff were made aware of the President’s condition, as was White House Counsel Oliver Babish. Pollster Josephine “Joey” Lucas released a poll in the State of Michigan, asking, “If the Governor of Michigan had a degenerative illness that he concealed from the public, would you vote to re-elect him?” The first responses were dismal-over 60% of respondents said they would not. The poll also revealed that 74% of Americans believed MS to be fatal. 

Reveal and Congressional hearings: 

On May 22, 2001, Bartlet, with his wife by his side, revealed on camera to Diane Mathers that he had been diagnosed eight years earlier with MS. The public reaction was immediately fiery, asking if the President would be impeached for lying to the public. A press conference was held at the State Department later that evening, during which  _ Chicago Tribune  _ writer Sandy Galloway asked point-blank, “Mr. President, can you tell us right now if you’ll be seeking a second term?” Bartlet smiled, looked into the camera, and replied, “Yeah. And I’m gonna win.” 

Preparations immediately began for the President’s re-election campaign, though Bartlet had a falling-out with the First Lady over breaking his one-term promise. She, too, was put under review by the New Hampshire Medical Board for illegally prescribing her husband drugs to combat his disease. 

On September 4, 2001, subpoenas were issued for Bartlet’s top advisers, as well as the President himself. Over the next several months, all testified as to their knowledge of Bartlet’s condition. State Attorney Clem Rollins was appointed as special prosecutor in the first weeks of September 2001, though he later stepped down from the case, leaving Majority Counsel Clifford Calley in charge of the questioning. 

On December 23, 2001, Chief of Staff Leo McGarry testified before the Senate, but the hearings mysteriously ended early. It was the week after McGarry’s testimony that, on January 6, 2002, Bartlet accepted a Congressional censure for lying about the MS. He would be the first President since Andrew Jackson with that distinction. 

First Lady Abbey Bartlet was brought under review for breaking many American Medical Association laws by choosing to self-medicate her husband. On the eve of her hearing, she announced that she would voluntarily surrender her medical license for the remainder of her husband’s time in office. 

With the help of veteran campaign manager Bruno Gianelli, Bartlet was re-elected to a second term on November 5, 2002. 

Aftermath: 

Once the furor had died down a few years later, Abbey Bartlet began volunteering at a free clinic in DC. Although the assumption was that she had resumed practicing medicine, the practice of her serving AIDS patients was not without controversy. 

Bartlet would suffer one major attack while in office, during a state visit to China in December 2005. The lingering effects of this episode would last throughout the rest of Bartlet’s second term. 

  
  


… 

The  **Gaza Strip CODEL attack** occurred on May 27, 2005. Four members of the delegation were killed, and one was critically injured, leading to a landmark peace accord between the US, Palestine, and Israel. 

Congressional Delegation

The group was initially sent to the Gaza Strip on a fact-finding mission, meeting with Palestinian leaders and learning about the area. The people onboard the delegation were: 

Congressman Daniel DeSantos (R-FL) 

Retired Admiral Percy Fitzwallace, Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Congresswoman Carol Gelsey (D-FL) 

Congressman Thomas Korb (R-ND) 

Donnatella Moss, Senior Assistant to White House Deputy Chief of Staff

Congresswoman Andrea Wyatt (D-MD) 

The group also consisted of several aides and field producers for the White House Press Corps. 

Explosion

The Suburbans were leaving Erez Checkpoint on the morning of May 27, 2005, when a car bomb detonated by cell phone exploded next to one of the cars. 

Wyatt and Gelsey, in the other car, were both uninjured. Approximately ten minutes after the explosion, ambulances arrived to treat the injured and dead. DeSantos and Korb were killed instantly, while Fitzwallace died at the scene. Moss and James Holzman, a legal aide to Congressman DeSantos, were taken to Ramstein Air Force Base, where they were airlifted to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. Both were in critical condition. 

Moss stabilized after surgery to treat her injuries, including a collapsed lung and shattered femur, while Holzman succumbed to his injuries the next day. She was treated in Germany and released a week later, returning to DC to continue her recovery. 

Aftermath

The military response was immediately established. Chairman Hashem Farad of the Palestinian Authority immediately expressed condolences to the American people and promised to find the perpetrators. He had several individuals from a refugee camp arrested in connection to the explosion, though the Israelis disagreed that they were the individuals responsible. 

Twelve hours after the explosion, the White House received word of the bombing by the Israelis of a house in Gaza where a known Hamas leader was staying. 12 were killed, including four children. Bartlet addressed the nation less than an hour later, expressing deep sorrow over the loss of fellow Americans and making it very clear that the government and intelligence sources would catch who was responsible. 

The next day, Israelis surrounded the compound of Chairman Farad, even as the FBI identified a suspect they believed to be responsible for the bombing. After several negotiations between the US and Israel, during which Israel stated that they would be willing to talk without Farad in the conversation, Farad announced on TV that he would accept President Bartlet’s invitation to negotiate with the Israelis in a peace summit at Camp David. 

Though all the President’s advisers advised him to respond militarily, Bartlet insisted on going through with the peace talks. The situation was complicated by Christine Korb, widow of Congressman Thomas Korb, asking the President live on  _ 60 Minutes  _ to avenge her husband’s death. On May 31, Congress passed a bill urging the President to use military action against Palestine. 

The bomber was revealed to be Khalil Nasan, a Palestinian terrorist. The FBI announced that they had arrested and extradited Nasan. 

The Israelis (Prime Minister Eli Zahavy) and Palestinians (Chairman Hamesh Farad) agreed to the summit the same day and flew to Camp David to meet the President. Following this departure, the Americans bombed a terrorist training camp in Syria in retaliation for the bombing. 

Camp David Peace Accord

On June 1, the summit began. Cregg provided daily briefings on the details of the summit and what they hoped to accomplish each day. After a tense two days of negotiation, on June 3, the President attended a Shabbat dinner with Prime Minister Zahavy of Israel. 

On the evening of June 4, the principals reached an agreement, which was detailed on the afternoon of June 5 at a joint press conference with President Bartlet, Prime Minister Zahavy, and Chairman Farad. The biggest issue-control of Jerusalem-was resolved by giving Palestinian sites in Jerusalem “diplomatic status”, Israelis controlling the rest of Jerusalem, and the US providing peacekeeping forces. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


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